Newcastle Knights frontrower Jacob Saifiti has been slapped with a $25,000 fine for bringing the club into disrepute following an incident outside a Newcastle hotel early last month that saw him knocked unconscious and left with a broken leg.
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The Newcastle Herald has learned Saifiti was forced to front the Knights’ football committee, headed by chairman Geoff Coburn, a week prior to Christmas where he was handed the hefty fine.
It comes despite police clearing the 22-year-old prop of any criminal involvement in the December 2 incident.
There have been suggestions Saifiti may have been fined as much as $50,000 with 50 percent of it suspended but neither Knights CEO Phil Gardner or the club’s Director of Football Brian Canavan could be contacted to verify it.
The decision to come down heavy on Saifiti, whose contract this season is worth more than $250,000, is further proof of Wests Group’s desire to stamp out poor off-field behaviour.
It is understood Gardner has read the riot act to players on more than one occasion since Wests took over.
Saifiti suffered a fractured lower leg when he fell awkwardly after allegedly being punched and knocked out cold outside Hamilton’s Greenroof Hotel just prior to 2.30 am on Sunday, December 2.
He was part of a group of Knights players who had gathered at the Commercial Hotel in Cooks Hill the previous afternoon to farewell former teammate Luke Yates, who was leaving to join the London Broncos in the English Super League.
The farewell kicked on at the Greenroof but it is not clear how many players were still at the venue when the incident took place.
Saifiti was taken to John Hunter Hospital by hotel security where he later had surgery to have a plate and several screws inserted to repair the fracture.
Following a police investigation that included looking at nearby CCTV footage, a 28-year-old Adamstown man attended Newcastle police station where he was arrested and charged with reckless grievous bodily harm.
He has been granted conditional bail to appear in Newcastle Local Court on Thursday, January 10.
Saifiti returned to restricted training just prior to Christmas but it could be at least another two months before he is cleared to resume full contact training.
The injury shapes as another major career setback. The 22-year-old has played 47 NRL games for the Knights since debuting in 2016 but made just eight appearances in 2018 because of injury.
He fractured his shoulder blade against the Gold Coast back in May and didn’t play again last season with the injury requiring two surgeries.
But he had fully recovered and had responded to the club’s signing of the likes of David Klemmer, Tim Glasby and James Gavet by being one of the Knights best trainers early in the pre-season.
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