KNIGHTS coach Adam O'Brien faces a welcome selection dilemma as he ponders whether to reinstate Tyson Frizell and Jacob Saifiti in his starting pack for Saturday's clash with Wests Tigers in Tamworth.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The two NSW Origin representatives are expected to be available, leaving O'Brien with a full complement of forwards and the quandary of whom to omit, after back-to-back wins against the Dolphins and Warriors.
"I'm quite confident that both Jacob and Friz will be with us ... if I was a betting man, I'd say they will both be on the team bus," O'Brien said after out-grinding the Warriors 14-8 on Sunday.
Frizell has missed five games with a torn hamstring, while Saifiti spent a week on the sidelines with a foot injury.
In their absence, young tyro Dylan Lucas has been a capable replacement for Frizell in Newcastle's back row, while O'Brien singled out Daniel Saifiti for special praise after his bulldozing effort against the Warriors, which included a crucial try.
Daniel told the Newcastle Herald he felt Jacob and Kiwi international Leo Thompson had established themselves as the Knights' first-choice front-rowers, but he remains more than willing to lead the pack if required.
"Those two have been doing a good job, starting," he said.
"I think they've have earned the right, but I'm happy to start again, that's for sure.
"Me and Jacob are good. There's no egos there.
"Whatever is best for the team, that's for Adam to decide.
"If Jacob is there, fine, but if he wants me to do it, I'll always say yes."
Daniel was pleased to have emerged on top of his heavyweight clash with Addin Fonua-Blake on Sunday but said it had been a collective effort from Newcastle's engine room.
"It's up to us as a middle rotation to lay a platform, and I reckon the past two weeks have been a step in the right direction," he said.
O'Brien said that he felt Daniel had "turned the corner" after a slow start to the season and was "exceptional" against the Warriors.
"He's the first one to admit it - he doesn't shy away from it - from what he's capable of, he has been a little bit down," O'Brien said.
"But he's worked really hard at training the whole way through.
"We just couldn't quite put our finger on why it wasn't working out for him."
Daniel said he had paid no attention to external criticism of his form.
"I'm pretty good with stuff like that," Saifiti said.
"You can't cop the pats on the back when it's going good and then have a sook when nothing's going your way.
"Nah, I'm all good. I get my feedback from my teammates and my coaching staff.
"They're the ones who matter."
The 28-year-old, who played the last of his seven State of Origin games for NSW in 2021, was looking forward to Saturday's showdown with Tigers veteran David Klemmer.
Klemmer played 81 games for Newcastle between 2019 and 2022 and was a mentor for the Saifitis during their formative years.
"He's been playing really good footy," Saifiti said.
"I've got a lot of respect for Klem.
"He taught me a lot of stuff when I was a young guy coming through.
"It was a bit weird playing against him last year, but we'll shake hands after the game.
"Before that, there won't be much talk."
Meanwhile, O'Brien is hopeful his team will be the crowd favourites in Tamworth, despite it being the Tigers' home game.
"We spend our summers out there, our [pre-season] camps," he said.
"We're training at Farrer [Agicultural College], where we had that camp.
"We've spent a lot of time in that town and it'll be great to go out there and see some familiar faces.
"We consider it our region, so if they're going to take us on the road, I'm glad they're taking us there."
