Jacob Saifiti (born 1 May 1996) is a

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a forward for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Background

Saifiti was born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...

, Australia. He is of Fijian and Samoan descent and moved to the Central Coast at a young age. He is the identical twin brother of Knights teammate

Daniel Saifiti Daniel Saifiti (born 1 May 1996) 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, ...

. Saifiti played his junior rugby league for the

Terrigal Sharks The Terrigal Sharks are an Australian youth rugby league football club based in the suburbs of Terrigal and Wamberal on the Central Coast of NSW. They have numerous teams competing in competitions run by the Central Coast Division of Country Rugb ...

and

The Entrance Tigers The Entrance Tigers are a rugby league club based at The Entrance, New South Wales, Australia.They are competing in the 2022 Denton Engineering Cup (NSWRL Presidents Cup Northern Conference) & Central Coast Division Rugby League. They have previ ...

, before joining the

in 2015.

Playing career

2015

In 2015, Saifiti played for the

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

team. On 2 May, he played for

against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, alongside his twin brother Daniel. On 27 September, he played in Newcastle's 2015 New South Wales Cup Grand Final win over the

Wyong Roos The Wyong Rugby League Football Club are an Australian rugby league club based on the Central Coast of New South Wales. The club competed in the New South Wales Cup from 2013 to 2018 and still competes in the Central Coast Division Rugby League ...

. During the year, he re-signed with the Newcastle club on a two-year contract.

2016

In round 1 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, Saifiti made his

debut for the

against the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

, playing alongside his brother Daniel, becoming the first twins in Australian rugby league's 108-year history to debut together. On 12 May, he and his brother extended their contracts with the Knights from the end of 2017 until the end of 2018. He made a total of 18 appearances for Newcastle in his debut season as the club finished last on the table.

2017

Saifiti played 21 games for the Newcastle club in the 2017 season, before having his contract extended until the end of 2020. Newcastle would finish bottom of the table for a third straight season.

2018

Saifiti was limited to only eight games for Newcastle in the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

as the club finished 11th on the table.

2019

Saifiti played 7 games for Newcastle in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club finished 11th on the table. Jacob Saifiti & Daniel Saifiti

2020

Saifiti played 21 games for Newcastle in the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

. He played in Newcastle's first finals game since 2013 which was a 46-20 loss against South Sydney in the elimination final.

2021

He played 23 matches for Newcastle in the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

including the club's elimination finals loss against

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

2022

Saifiti was selected as a reserve player for New South Wales in the

2022 State of Origin series The 2022 State of Origin series was the 41st annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland had won 22 times, NSW 16 times, with two series drawn. Game I Game One was a ...

. He made his Origin debut against Queensland after the withdrawal of

Jordan McLean Jordan McLean (born 8 October 1991) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia national rugby league team, Australia at international ...

in Game 3 of the series at Suncorp Stadium. Saifiti scored a first half try as New South Wales eventually lost the match 22-12. Saifiti played 23 games for Newcastle in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

as the club missed the finals finishing 14th on the table.

2023

In round 2 of the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season is the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL has increased from sixteen to seventeen with the ...

, Saifiti was sent off for a dangerous high tackle on Wests Tigers player

Jake Simpkin Jake Simpkin (born 16 October 2001) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League (NRL). Background Simpkin was born in Toowoomba, Queensland and played his junior rugby ...

. Newcastle would go on to win the match 14-12. Saifiti was later suspended for five matches over the incident. On 3 July, Saifiti was a surprise selection for New South Wales ahead of their match in game 3 of the 2023 State of Origin series. In round 27, Saifiti captained Newcastle for the first time and scored the opening try in a 32-12 win over the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

. Saifiti played a total of 21 games for Newcastle in the

as the club finished 5th on the table. Saifiti played in both finals games as Newcastle were eliminated in the second week of the finals by the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

Controversy

On 2 December 2018, Saifiti was found unconscious and with a broken leg after a fight with Dane Cordner, the brother of NSW captain and

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

player

Boyd Cordner Boyd Cordner (born 9 June 1992) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a forward for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL and Australia at international level. He has played for Country Origin and New South Wales ...

. Saifiti was later cleared of any wrongdoing but was fined $50,000 by Newcastle over the incident.

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saifiti, Jacob 1996 births Living people Australian people of Fijian descent Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian rugby league players Fiji national rugby league team players Newcastle Knights players Newcastle Knights captains New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league players from Newcastle, New South Wales Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows