Daniel Saifiti blow as Knights’ injury crisis deepens

Scott Bailey | March 18, 2023

Newcastle’s injury crisis has deepened with fears Daniel Saifiti has suffered a serious shoulder injury in the Knights 36-20 loss to the Dolphins.

Saifiti left McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night with his arm in a sling, after he was ruled out of the game early in the second half.

The prop will have scans on the injury, but the Knights initial fears are that he has done significant damage.

Any time on the sidelines would come as a significant hit to the Knights.

They were without nine first-graders in Friday night’s 36-20 loss, with Jayden Brailey (concussion) and Jack Johns (ankle) the only two likely to return against Canberra next Sunday.

“I don’t know exactly what he’s done. He will have to go for scans, but there wasn’t much positive news when I walked in there from staff,” coach Adam O’Brien said.

“It’s a bit dire in the middle there at the moment.

“We’ve got a longer turn around so we can sit down and once the dust settles try and make some planning if we can get someone in.

“We’ve got some spots there (in our roster). We’re going to have to do something.”

O’Brien said there was no update on when Kalyn Ponga would return, after the superstar five-eighth’s fourth concussion in 10 months last week.

In some rare good news, halfback Jackson Hastings was cleared of a concussion after being forced from the field late in the match.

The Knights missed his direction dearly against a 12-man Dolphins outfit while Felise Kaufusi was in the sin bin as Newcastle’s inexperience told.

Regardless, O’Brien is adamant the signs are there that the club is going in the right direction, as they stuck with the Dolphins for 70 minutes despite blooding three debutants off the bench.

“I think we’re in tact for the DNA we tried to create over the summer,” O’Brien said.

“The young blokes that come in certainly worked really hard.

“There’s something about this mob this year that I feel like we have something about us and the club, with the amount of starters that came out of the team.

“I’ll take that, well get better at the other stuff and execute a little better in patches.”