JACOB Saifiti will celebrate his 100th NRL game on Sunday, but the Knights warhorse needs no reminding that Wests Tigers have a history of crashing the party at McDonald Jones Stadium.
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The Tigers sprung a stunning 24-20 boilover on Newcastle's home turf in round three last season to dampen what should have been one of the great days of Mitchell Pearce's career - his 300th top-grade appearance.
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The Tigers then doubled down on that by giving the Knights a 36-16 shellacking in Magic Round in Brisbane.
"They got us twice last year, at home in Pearcey's 300th, and then also up there at Suncorp," Saifiti told the Newcastle Herald after last week's 20-6 triumph against Sydney Roosters.
"We haven't forgotten about it, that's for sure. We know we can't take them lightly."
The Tigers have actually won four of their past five matches at McDonald Jones Stadium and, perhaps more than any rival team, have highlighted Newcastle's frustrating tendency to drop their guard in games they are favoured to win.
It's a trend that prompted Knights coach Adam O'Brien to declare last year his players needed to lose their "sense of entitlement" if they were to ever start winning consistently.
Even after their demolition of the Roosters in the season opener, it is anyone's guess which Knights will turn up against the Tigers, who are wooden-spoon favourites after last week's 26-16 loss to Melbourne.
Saifiti agreed that inconsistency has been an issue in the past but said it had not been mentioned this week.
"It's different this year," he said.
"We'll be treating the Tigers like they're the Roosters this week ... I know talk is cheap and we have to show it on the weekend.
"But we're taking the Tigers very seriously and they'll be getting the best Knights, for sure."
Meanwhile, Saifiti said his twin brother Daniel was "50-50" to return early from a fractured leg on Sunday.
