They've long been known as the Twin Towers but Daniel and Jacob Saifiti are ready to stand stall as the out-and-out leaders of Newcastle's forward pack in 2023.
The twin brothers, who debuted in the same game in 2016, are preparing to be the regular starting props this season, a partnership years in the making that begins against Cronulla in a pre-season trial game at Gosford on Friday night.
For most of their careers, Daniel has been the preferred starter - in recent years alongside former enforcer David Klemmer - with Jacob usually coming off the bench. Jacob has somewhat emerged from Daniel's shadow over the past couple of years, winning the Danny Buderus Medal in 2021 and debuting for NSW in 2022.
But it was Klemmer, who left the Knights for Wests Tigers as part of a player-swap for halfback Jackson Hastings late last year, who was the more consistent prop of the three and generally considered the pack leader, winning Newcastle's players' player award last season.
Coming off a self-described "disappointing" 2022 campaign in which he missed playing Origin for the first time in four years, Daniel is using Klemmer's departure as reason to take his game to the next level.
"Me and Klem had played together for four years, and especially last year Klem was the leader of our pack," Saifiti told the Newcastle Herald.
"He took that role on well.
"But this year, it's given me and Jacob the reins. The other boys too, but we're the two spearheads of the pack.
"We're 27 this year and it's a great opportunity for us to step up and be the leaders."
The Knights have added combative forwards Jack Hetherington and Adam Elliott for the next three years and they will bring a renewed aggression in 2023.
But it is the Saifitis who will be leading the way up front and Daniel, entering his eighth NRL season after playing 138 games, is embracing the responsibility.
"[Klem] was one of our best players last year and his absence, we're going to feel it for sure," he said.
"I'm looking forward to that pressure."
A Fijian international, Saifiti chose to skip the World Cup last year in order to give himself the best chance of having a strong pre-season.
He was second-guessing that decision when Fiji almost upset New Zealand in the quarter-finals, but is glad to have a full summer of training under his belt.
"I was way too heavy at the start of last year, I wasn't fit enough," he said. "But the two years before that I was playing at a good weight. That 114 [kg] area. But last year I was about five, six kilos heavier and I could feel it for most of the year. I stripped most of it towards the end and I felt like I was starting to play better footy again. But I'm already at that weight now, so I'm feeling good."
The Entrance Tigers junior was typically frank about his 19-game campaign last year.
"2020 and '21 we're probably my best years, but to regress like that was disappointing," Saifiti said.
"But it's all my own fault.
"I got comfortable signing that four or five-year deal and I stopped doing all the little things that got me into the position to sign that deal.
"I paid for it. I had a bad year and missed Origin for the first time in a few years.
"It's been good reflecting on that, it's a lesson learnt."
Saifiti, who is contracted until the end of 2026, is in for a few more lessons over coming weeks with his partner Mikenzie due to give birth to their first child.
"It's a baby boy. He'll be due about round three or four, but he's measuring big so he could come earlier," the prop said.
"I'm looking forward to it."
A seven-time NSW State of Origin representative, Saifiti said the birth would bring "new perspective and meaning" to his football career.
"It gives you a reason why," he said. "Obviously you've got your own reasons why, but it just adds another dimension. You're playing for more people now and got more mouths to feed.
"Even though I've got [job] security with the deal, that can all change in an instant."
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