Daniel Saifiti

Dan Saifiti
Personal information
Full nameDaniel Saifiti
Born (1996-05-01) 1 May 1996 (age 28)
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Height195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight121 kg (19 st 1 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–24 Newcastle Knights 183 19 0 0 76
2025– Dolphins 0 0 0 0 0
Total 183 19 0 0 76
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015–17 Fiji 3 1 0 0 4
2019–21 New South Wales 7 1 0 0 4
Source: [1]
As of 13 October 2024
RelativesJacob Saifiti (brother)

Daniel Saifiti (born 1 May 1996) is a Fiji international rugby league footballer who currently plays as a prop for the Dolphins in the NRL. He previously played for the Newcastle Knights.

He has played for New South Wales in the State of Origin series.

Background

Saifiti was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Fijian and Samoan descent[2] and moved to the Central Coast at a young age.[2]

He played his junior rugby league for the Terrigal Sharks and The Entrance Tigers, before joining the Newcastle Knights in 2015.[3]

Saifiti is the identical twin brother of Knights teammate Jacob Saifiti.[3]

Playing career

Newcastle Knights (2015–2024)

In 2015, Saifiti played for the Newcastle Knights' NYC team.[4] On 2 May, he played for Fiji against Papua New Guinea, alongside his twin brother Jacob in the 2015 Melanesian Cup.[5] During the year, he re-signed with the Newcastle club on a two-year contract.[2][6]

In round 1 of the 2016 NRL season, Saifiti made his NRL debut for the Knights against the Gold Coast Titans,[7] playing alongside his brother Jacob, becoming the first twins in Australian rugby league's 108-year history to debut together.[8] He scored a try on debut.[9] On 7 May, he again played for Fiji against Papua New Guinea in the 2016 Melanesian Cup.[10] On 12 May, he and his brother extended their contracts with the Knights from the end of 2017 until the end of 2018.[11] In his 8th game of first-grade, he ran for a game-high 237 metres against the Wests Tigers.[12] Saifiti finished his debut season with Newcastle making 20 appearances as the club finished last on the table.[13]

Saifiti played 23 games for the Knights in the 2017 season,[14] before having his contract extended until the end of 2020. Newcastle would finish the year on the bottom of the table for a third straight season.[15][16]

Saifiti played 21 games for Newcastle in the 2018 NRL season as the club finished 11th on the table.[17]

Saifiti was selected in the starting side for Game 2 of the 2019 State of Origin series.[18]

Jacob Saifiti (8) and Daniel Saifiti (10) wait as Reagan Campbell Gillard waits to play the ball in 2021

Saifiti was retained for Game 3 of the 2019 State of Origin series which was won by New South Wales 26-20 at ANZ Stadium. It was the first time since 2005 that New South Wales had won back to back series.[19]

At club level, he played 21 games for Newcastle as the club finished a disappointing 11th on the table after being expected by many to qualify for the finals.[20][21]

He was selected for New South Wales in the 2020 State of Origin series. He played in all three games as New South Wales suffered a 2-1 series defeat to Queensland.[22]

For round 1 of the 2021 NRL season, Saifiti was announced as a Knights co-captain alongside Jayden Brailey.[23]

He was selected for game one of the 2021 State of Origin series. Saifiti scored his first try for New South Wales in game one as the Blues defeated Queensland 50-6. Saifiti played in the first two games during the series but was ruled out of the third due to injury. New South Wales went on to win the series 2-1.[24][25][26]

Saifiti caused a shock when he ruled himself of World Cup selection for Fiji, citing covid and injury issues earlier in the year as the reason.[27] Saifiti played 19 games for Newcastle in the 2022 NRL season as the club missed the finals finishing 14th on the table.[28]

Saifiti played a total of 22 games for Newcastle in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 5th on the table. Saifiti played in Newcastle's golden point extra-time victory over Canberra in week one of the finals.[29]

Dolphins (2025–)

Late in the 2024 season, Saifiti was given permission by the Knights to negotiate with a new club for the 2025 season. In October, he signed a 3-year contract with the Dolphins.[30]

References

  1. ^ "Daniel Saifiti - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Keeble, Brett (29 April 2015). "Saifiti twins win Fiji call-up | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Saifiti twins first for the Knights - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  4. ^ "S". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  5. ^ "TEAM LISTS: Tonga, Fiji Bati, Papua New Guinea Teams For 2015 Representative Round | Triple M NRL". Triplem.com.au. 27 April 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Robert Dillon on Twitter: "@jamiesonmurph Two years"". Twitter.com. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Updated: Round 1 NRL team lists". NRL.com. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. ^ "Knights Prop Sam Mataora Rewarded for Off-Season Regime with Starting Spot Against Gold Coast". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Five things we learned from Titans v Knights". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  10. ^ "PNG stuns Fiji in a thriller". nrl.com. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Saifitis extend contracts with Knights". Zero Tackle. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  12. ^ Sygall, David (22 May 2016). "Trent Hodkinson in State of Origin frame as Wests Tigers pinch win over Newcastle Knights". The Advocate. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  13. ^ "The worst teams in NRL history". Sporting News.
  14. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Saifiti twins re-sign with Newcastle Knights - Zero Tackle". 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Knights: 2017 by the numbers". NRL. 12 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Newcastle Knights 2018 season review". NRL. 22 October 2018.
  18. ^ "Latrell Mitchell dumped as NSW make seven changes for State of Origin Game 2". Guardian. 17 June 2019.
  19. ^ "Emotional Blues legend Wayne Pearce opens up on his son Mitchell's battle". www.news.com.au.
  20. ^ "Newcastle Knights: 2019 preview, draw, squad changes, news, every player, odds and ticketing". Sporting News. 20 February 2019.
  21. ^ "2019 SEASON REVIEW NEWCASTLE KNIGHTs". Nothing But League. 3 October 2019. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  22. ^ Howcroft, Jonathan (18 November 2020). "State of Origin 2020 game 3: Qld Maroons beat NSW Blues – as it happened". The Guardian.
  23. ^ "Saifiti & Brailey earn Rd1 co-captaincy roles". Newcastle Knights. 2 March 2021.
  24. ^ "NSW Origin team: Luai gets nod for Freddie's fresh-faced Blues". www.nrl.com. 30 May 2021.
  25. ^ "NSW Blues win State of Origin series opener 50-6 against Queensland Maroons". ABC News. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  26. ^ "Green's rookie call pays off big time... but questions remain over Origin future". www.foxsports.com.au. 14 July 2021.
  27. ^ "Knights star's shock World Cup call: 'I'm not going to play'". Fox Sports. 15 July 2022.
  28. ^ "NRL 2022: Newcastle Knights season review". www.sportingnews.com. 6 September 2022.
  29. ^ "NRL 2023: Newcastle Knights season review". www.sportingnews.com. 19 September 2023.
  30. ^ "Saifiti joins the Dolphins". The Dolphins. 1 October 2024.
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