A chance to step out of his comfort zone and reunite with coach Kristian Woolf were the twin driving factors behind Daniel Saifiti’s decision to make the move north and join the Dolphins.
“I would say I did want to get out of my comfort zone, I probably was there and I was one of the senior boys (at Newcastle); me and my brother Jacob, we were probably the last two there over the last decade, so you get in that comfort zone, (even if) you don't mean to do it,” Saifiti said.
“But I knew it was time. I had a sit down with my partner and we knew we were ready to move.
"There's representative players all over the park here but probably the main thing was coming under Woolfy again.
“I only had him for one year in 2019, but me and him built a real close relationship there and we've kept in touch ever since.
“When he rang my manager, I pretty much knew after that first phone call that this is the club for me, so I'm just glad he made the call and I'm here now.”
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Saifiti is laser focused on helping his new team to a maiden finals appearance, despite being in the Knights team that extinguished the top-eight hopes of the Dolphins in the final match of the regular season last year.
“I think they've gotten better obviously from ‘23 to ‘24 and they're looking to go one better this year,” Saifiti said.
“I've spoke to a couple of boys about it, obviously, whoever won that game last year out of us and Newcastle made the eight, so I think not making it left a sour taste in a few of the boys’ mouths.
"It's just extra motivation to train harder and get that one step further next year.
“They were close to making it last year obviously and didn't make it at the end, but I think we knuckle down in the pre-season, fix the wrongs from last year … get fitter, hold each other accountable and I think this is definitely a finals eight footy team and a finals eight forward pack.”
As well as looking forward to facing off against identical twin brother Jacob when the Dolphins and Knights meet in Round 2, the former Fiji and New South Wales prop was also hoping his ‘sea change’ and the continued support of Woolf would also help him find the sort of form to rekindle his representative career.
“When he was at the club, I was playing Origin back in 2019 and he'd love to see me get there again,” Saifiti said.
“I have just come to a new club and it's not just going to happen, I am going to have to prove my myself to him, the boys that I do deserve to be in the team (each week) and I find with rep teams, if you're playing in a good team that's going well and you're playing good footy, you sort of naturally get picked.
“I'm coming into a forward pack with guys that are playing in Origin and guys like Kenny Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi, they have won comps and played Origin, played for New Zealand and the like, so even though I'm getting older, I'm almost 30, there’s still a lot to learn and those guys have been everywhere and I get to pick their brains here.”
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