Newcastle Knights prop Jacob Saifiti to realise his State of Origin dream after earning late NSW call-up

The North Queensland forward was forced to withdraw from the NSW side after injuring a hamstring, opening the door for Saifiti to make his Origin debut in the series decider next week.

The 26-year-old, who trained with the Blues on the state's north coast for most of this week as a back-up player, a role he also had before Origin I, had returned to Newcastle and was readying himself on Thursday to play for the Knights against South Sydney at McDonald Jones Stadium tonight.

But he has been withdrawn from the NRL match and will now prepare to play his first Origin in front of a sold-out crowd at the Brisbane cauldron of Suncorp Stadium.

"He has had a great week in camp," Knights coach Adam O'Brien said before Saifiti's call-up yesterday.

"He is ready to play.

"He has deserved his place to be in that sort of arena."

Saifiti was the only other middle forward in the NSW squad.

It is not yet clear if coach Brad Fittler will put him straight into the starting side, or promote experienced Junior Paulo from the bench to the run-on team and use Saifiti off the bench.

Saifiti's twin brother Daniel has played in seven Origins, and won two series.

It was Daniel's knee injury that likely allowed Jacob to join the NSW squad ahead of Origin I, which he described as a dream come true.

"It means the world to me," Saifiti, who has also represented Fiji, said.

The Saifitis, who played their junior footy with The Entrance Tigers, are in line to become only the second set of twins to play for NSW, after Josh and Brett Morris.

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