Daniel Saifiti is one of the first forwards picked for the Newcastle Knights in 2017, but that wasn’t always the case.
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Three seasons ago he didn’t even make the Entrance Tigers side to play the Ron Massey Cup grand final.
Saifiti watched on as twin brother Jacob played in a 22-18 golden-point victory over Mounties at Allianz Stadium on the last Sunday in September to claim the NSW Rugby League title.
How times have changed and it shows how far the recently turned 21-year-old has come in such a short period.
The next season Saifiti made his international debut and has continued to grow from strength-to-strength with Fiji, including the 2016 rising star award and raps the other week from boyhood idol Petero Civoniceva.
On the club front Saifiti played under 20s with the Knights in 2015, but following a maiden NRL run with Newcastle in round one last year he hasn’t looked back. His 20 appearances in red and blue resulted in the 2016 rookie of the year prize.
Which brings us to this campaign – wow!
Saifiti has really started to make his mark in our team – leading the forward pack this season in runs (124) and metres (1199) while sitting second overall, just ahead of me, for tackle breaks (22).
This was certainly on show for the entire competition to see in our 34-20 win against Canberra at home on Mother’s Day. With sibling Jacob injured and taken from McDonald Jones Stadium in a medi-cab, he outgunned a star-studded Raiders squad by producing a game-high 185m from 21 carries and also made 23 tackles.
I reckon the stark improvement comes down to a few things.
Firstly, the prop is adapting to life in the top grade. Growing in confidence when taking on seasoned professionals mainly older and wiser than him.
A gentle giant off the field, he is also learning how to take full advantage of his own 195 centimetre and 125 kilogram frame on the field.
But most of all he’s a humble kid with a wonderful work ethic. And he is always willing to learn.
If that is anything to go by Saifiti’s status in the game will only keep rising and he’s setting himself for a long and prosperous career.
Not only that but at the moment you can feel the tide beginning to change with opponents worrying about Saifiti, rather than the other way around.
Three seasons ago he didn’t even make the Entrance Tigers side to play the Ron Massey Cup grand final."
