What a heartbreaking season it was for the nib Newcastle Knights hooker, Slade Griffin.
The 27-year-old joined the Knights from Melbourne to start the season and was coming off a grand final victory where he played off the bench.
He was a revelation for the Knights in the hooking position and was one of the Club's most consistent performers.
That was until he tore his ACL, the forth of his career, in the Round 16 clash against Canterbury-Bankstown.
Injury Report: The latest on Griffin and Saifiti
Griffin missed the remained of the year and will start 2019 on the sidelines.
In 16 games last season, Griffin made a staggering 597 tackles at an average of 37.3 a game.
In the Round 1 against Manly, Griffin scored his first ever NRL try in his sixth season.
He finished the year with two tries to his name.
The Knights conceded an average of 22 points against them in the eight games Griffin missed.
Moment of the Year: Round 14 v Sydney Roosters
Glasby: The enthusiasm is inspiring
It was an electric contest between the Knights and Rooster on this Saturday night at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The eventual premiers came into town and were looking to put the Knights to the sword like they had in Round 3.
But the home side had different plans.
The score was 8-6 in favour of the Knights after 20 minutes.
With the Roosters attacking the line, Luke Keary put in the kick for lanky winger Daniel Tupou who batted back the ball to his centre partner Latrell Mitchell.
Mitchell was shut down immediately but was able to get an offload away back to Tupou.
Tupou had nowhere to go but realised his lock forward Isaac Lui was making a beeline to the try-line with no one in sight.
Griffin, who had just chased down Luke Keary to put pressure on his kick, had started to make his move towards to corner to make up numbers.
As Lui got the ball, Griffin worked overtime to reach him.
Due to Griffins terrific effort, he blind sided Lui, forcing him to lose the ball as he fell over the line.
It as a try saver. It was special.
The tackle made the NRL's top ten try-saving tackles, coming in at sixth.
In a close match, the tackle kept the Knights knocking on the door of the Roosters before falling short by two points.
2018 season stats:
Games: 16
Tries: 2
Try/LB assists: 2/2
Avg running metres: 39.5m
Tackles made: 597 (93.4% efficiency)
Line breaks: 2
Offloads: 3
Tackle breaks: 10
