Jacob Saifiti primed to finally establish himself in the Newcastle Knights' starting pack

After Klemmer's recent departure to join Wests Tigers, there is a vacancy in Newcastle's starting pack that Saifiti is eager to claim, which will enable him an opportunity to partner twin sibling Daniel on a regular basis for the first time in their NRL careers.

Since the Saifitis debuted as raw teenagers in 2016, Daniel has established himself as one of the first players picked in the run-on 13, whereas Jacob has played more than three-quarters of his 121 top-grade games off the bench.

Even after Jacob made a spectacular debut for NSW in last year's Origin series decider, Knights coach Adam O'Brien continued to insist he was more valuable to Newcastle as a "sparkplug" interchange replacement.

But now, at the age of 26, Jacob wants to take the next step in his evolution.

"Obviously I want to be starting next year with Daniel," he told the Newcastle Herald.

"I've never shied away from starting. I've always wanted to start, 100 per cent.

"It's more like I have a team-first mentality and I'll play wherever the coach thinks will benefit the team most. If Adam thinks that's off the bench, that's fine.

"But with Klem gone now, that opens up an opportunity and I want to be starting as of round one next year."

Having been regularly used as an interchange replacement after Daniel's opening stint, Jacob had no doubt that joining forces from the kick-off would bring out the best in both of them.

"When we have started together, we really feed off each other and we both thrive on that," he said. "I have full confidence that Daniel and myself can get the job done."

Excited as he is about his new challenge, Jacob was disappointed about Klemmer's exit, after spending the past four seasons with the former Test enforcer as a mentor.

"Klem leaves a massive gap, not just the starting position, but he was also a real leader," Saifiti said.

"There's a reason why he got our players' player last year. All the boys loved playing with him.

"It was a real loss losing Klem, but in saying that, the rest of us have to step up now.

"Like when Klem first came to the club, I need to be a leader for the young guys.

"That's something I want to put into practice, using my leadership skills to help out our young forwards coming through."

After his first taste of Origin, Jacob admits he wants another chance to pull on the sky-blue jersey, potentially alongside Daniel, a veteran of seven interstate appearances.

"Mainly I proved to myself that I do belong in that arena," he said.

"I didn't want to let the state down.

"It was a bit of mixed emotions. I was happy with my own performance, but that was kind of overshadowed by the result. I was proud to make my debut but obviously disappointed we didn't win the series.

"All it's done is fuel my hunger because I want to get back there again. That comes back to me putting my best foot forward and leading this club next year."

To give themselves every chance in 2023, the Saifitis declared themselves unavailable to represent Fiji in the recent World Cup.

"Especially the way the Fiji boys performed, it was hard not to be a bit jealous," Jacob said.

"But I had a PCL [knee] injury at the back end of last season that wasn't 100 per cent.

"Me and Daniel talked about it and decided we both wanted to have really good pre-seasons and give ourselves the best possible chance for next year.

"We probably weren't in the best shape at the start of last season, and it showed."

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