The man who punched Knights player Jacob Saifiti outside a Hamilton pub, causing him to fall and break his ankle, felt threatened as the NRL prop approached him in the seconds before the strike.
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Dane Marsden Cordner, older brother of NSW Blues skipper Boyd, told a Newcastle local court hearing on Wednesday he was scared when Mr Saifiti approached him out front of the Greenroof Hotel just before 2.30am on December 1 last year.
Mr Cordner, 29, was charged with reckless grievous bodily harm over the incident, which left the 23-year-old Mr Saifiti requiring a plate and two screws to be surgically inserted in his leg.
Mr Cordner, who has pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self defence, gave evidence on Wednesday.
He refuted repeated allegations from the prosecution that he had been looking for a fight the night Mr Saifiti was hit.
Mr Cordner also denied being angry when he struck out at the NRL player.
"I turned around and he was ... right there," Mr Cordner said through tears in the witness box.
"I hit him in the face. He fell back.
"I just instinctively pushed and hit him, I was scared."
The hearing continues.
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