Saifiti discovers missing mojo to set new minimum standard

Daniel Saifiti took a good, hard look at himself last week – literally – and responded with his best game of the season against the Dragons at a rain-soaked McDonald Jones Stadium.

Emerging from a self-confessed slow start to his 2024 campaign, the Newcastle and former NSW front-rower helped lead the Knights to a 30-10 triumph over St George Illawarra, coming off the bench to run 14 times for 149 metres in his 40 minutes in the mud and slush.

“I trained hard in the off-season but my form just wasn’t coming together. I don’t think I’ve been terrible but it’s not what the boys need me to be,” Saifiti explained.

“This week, I felt challenged a bit and I did my job without being exceptional, and from now on, the boys need me to be better and that’s the minimum for me now.

“I went back and watched some of my old games and just needed to get my mojo back. It’s nowhere near my best but like I said, that’s a minimum from now on. That’s what the boys need me to do.

“Jacob and Leo have been setting a good platform and me, ‘Hethero’ (Jack Hetherington) and whoever the other middles are, we need to do well too, so that has to be the bare minimum from now on.”

Saifiti’s wholehearted effort came after he covered just 63 metres in seven runs when, in Thompson’s absence, he started alongside Jacob against the Warriors last Sunday.

That subdued showing, and his overall output during Newcastle’s 1-3 record in the opening month, prompted Saifiti to review some of the highlight reels in his back catalogue.

Knights coach Adam O’Brien described it as “easily” Saifiti’s most complete performance this year.

“I could tell before the game that he was up for it,” O’Brien said.

“There was a lot of talk about how the Dragons were going to come through our middle and our guys took that personally, and Daniel led that.”

Saifiti added a try for his troubles in the 29th minute, chasing through and grounding a Jack Cogger grubber that skidded away from Ben Hunt and sat up for him in the saturated in-goal area.

“It was good to get my first one and get off the nudie run. It was a bit of a lucky one,” he laughed.

“I’m not sure who it was who played and missed it but I was just happy to be there.

“Our game plan was to kick early for tries, and we got them … because it was a bit slippery under foot. So for those conditions, to score 30 points, we’re pretty happy with that. We kept it real simple.

“If we had have done that in the first few rounds, our results probably would have been different but it’s funny, in those conditions, it’s probably been our best completion rate of the year.”

Though the constant torrential rain and gale force winds made life difficult for players, Saifiti spared a thought for the 9884 diehard spectators who braved the conditions in the bleachers and surrounds.

“I can’t believe it. Most of them were in the stands but there were actually a few people on the hills. I’ve said it many times, but we’ve got the best fans in the league,” he said.

“I’ve been here through multiple wooden spoons, and obviously some good years as well, and there’s always a good chunk of them here no matter what – and the boys appreciate it.”