Daniel Saifiti


Daniel Saifiti is a Fiji international rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.
He has played for New South Wales in the State of Origin series.

Background

Saifiti was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Fijian descent and moved to the Central Coast at a young age.
He played his junior rugby league for the Terrigal Sharks and The Entrance Tigers, before joining the Newcastle Knights in 2015.
Saifiti is the identical twin brother of Knights teammate Jacob Saifiti.

Playing career

2015

In 2015, Saifiti played for the Newcastle Knights' NYC team. On 2 May, he played for Fiji against Papua New Guinea, alongside his twin brother Jacob in the 2015 Melanesian Cup. During the year, he re-signed with the Newcastle club on a two-year contract.

2016

In round 1 of the 2016 NRL season, Saifiti made his NRL debut for the Knights against the Gold Coast Titans, playing alongside his brother Jacob, becoming the first twins in Australian rugby league's 108-year history to debut together. He scored a try on debut. On 7 May, he again played for Fiji against Papua New Guinea in the 2016 Melanesian Cup. On 12 May, he and his brother extended their contracts with the Knights from the end of 2017 until the end of 2018. In his 8th game of first-grade, he ran for a game-high 237 metres against the Wests Tigers.
Saifiti finished his debut season with Newcastle making 20 appearances as the club finished last on the table.

2017

Saifiti played 23 games for the Knights in the 2017 season, before having his contract extended until the end of 2020. Newcastle would finish the year on the bottom of the table for a third straight season.

2018

Saifiti played 21 games for Newcastle in the 2018 NRL season as the club finished 11th on the table.

2019

Saifiti was selected in the starting side for Game 2 of the 2019 State of Origin series.
Saifiti was retained for Game 3 of the 2019 State of Origin series which was won by New South Wales 26-20 at ANZ Stadium. It was the first time since 2005 that New South Wales had won back to back series.
At club level, he played 21 games for Newcastle as the club finished a disappointing 11th on the table after being expected by many to qualify for the finals.