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Daniel Saifiti

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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

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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

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Newcastle Knights (2015–2024)

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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–)

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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

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  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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