Newcastle Knights' player of the year Jacob Saifiti is preparing to go to court to defend a civil suit being brought against him by the brother of ex-NSW Origin captain Boyd Cordner, after a fight outside a Hamilton hotel almost three years ago.
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Dane Cordner, a former Central Newcastle forward, has instigated legal action against the Knights prop in relation to a much-publicised altercation between the pair outside the Greenroof Hotel back in December 2018.
Saifiti fell awkwardly and broke his leg after being punched by Cordner during the incident.
Cordner was subsequently charged by police but was cleared of reckless grievous bodily harm back in August 2019 by a local court magistrate who ruled he had acted in self defence.
Following his acquittal, Cordner said the ruling had ended "nine months of hell" since initially being charged.
"When it first broke, my name was being put in the same sentence as 'coward punch' and for nine months I've had to live with that," he said at the time.
Saifiti was not charged by police but was subsequently fined $50,000 by the Knights [$25,000 suspended] for bringing the club into disrepute. As a result of his injuries, he was sidelined for a big chunk of the 2019 season.
The latest court matter has been listed for pre-trial conference on Tuesday in the Newcastle District Court where it's expected Cordner will launch a statement of claim against Saifiti.
The Knights prop confirmed he was aware of Cordner's legal action against him when contacted by the Newcastle Herald on Sunday but did not wish to comment. He is not expected to have to attend court on Tuesday.
"I've known about it for a while now but I'm not in a position comment," he said.
Only last week, Saifiti was celebrating the highlight of his NRL career when he was named Danny Buderus Medal winner following a stellar season for the Knights.
