nib Newcastle Knights prop Daniel Saifiti admits he has high hopes that one day he’ll wear the Blues jersey.
Saifiti was one of four Knights including Connor Watson, Brock Lamb and Sione Mata’utia, who assembled at ANZ Stadium on Saturday for the educational camp.
39 players from 13 NRL teams were joined by a number of NSW Origin legends under the watchful eye of coach Brad Fittler and assistant Danny Buderus.
Saifiti says it was a worthwhile experience.
“We didn’t get to train but we had a lot of ex-players come in and talk to us,” Saifiti explained.
“Each player was given a talk by someone in their specific position.”
The star-studded line-up included former Knights legend Andrew Johns, Craig Fitzgibbon, Matt King, Mark O’Meley and Anthony Minichiello.
“Mark O’Meley talked to us middle forwards and he’s one of the best Blues players that played in my position,” said Saifiti.
“He talked about what is needed to take that next step and become a representative NSW player.
“We weren’t there to learn any new skills but more of that mindset to learn that when it gets tough, Origin is a completely new level to club level.
“They gave us a few little tips here and there to help push through the hard times and help our team out as well.”
With a breakout year in 2017, Saifiti hopes it won’t be too long until he’s a genuine Origin contender.
“Realistically I won’t be there for another few years but hopefully I am an emerging player who they see coming through who might be able to get to that level,” maintained Saifiti.
“I’m going to take the tips they gave us and bring it to Newcastle.
“They did speak of maybe a few camps during the year but also keeping in touch with our positional coaches, either Danny Buderus or Mark O’Meley.
“If we do something right or we do something wrong, they might tip us up during the year and hopefully we can improve from there.”
