IT WAS the off-field incident that almost ended Jacob Saifiti's time at the Knights.
A much-publicised blue outside the Greenroof Hotel in early December, 2018.
The incident cost Saifiti, on and off the field. He suffered a leg fracture that set him back months and copped a $25,000 fine from the club.
He would not play NRL again until round 16 the next year and took a while to find the form that had made him one of the best up-and-coming props in the game.
Reflecting on the setback this week, Saifiti said it had been a turning point in his career, ultimately reinvigorating his approach to footy.
"It all could have gotten taken away from me," Saifiti told the Newcastle Herald. "After that, I didn't have any goals or anything.
"I just thought I'm going to give it a red-hot crack."
Three-and-a-half years on, Saifiti is in the NSW Blues squad - named as a reserve this week for Wednesday's game at Stadium Australia.
It's a remarkable turnaround given the prop's head space after the 2018 blue.
"There were times there when I was coming back ... when I wasn't sure if I wanted to play footy anymore," Saifiti admitted at the Blues camp in Coogee.
"That was my mindset at that time. I was almost happy just to come back and play [NSW] Cup. A couple of years later I'm in the squad here, it's a bit surreal to be honest.
"I still don't believe it. Looking around and I'm in the room with guys like Nathan Cleary and [James] Tedesco.
"Every now and again, I do reflect on coming back from my injury and those tough times.
"It definitely made me a tougher person and a tougher player as well."
Saifiti returned from the broken leg he suffered to win the Knights' NSW Cup player of the year award in 2019.
He followed that form up by playing all 21 games for Newcastle in the COVID-reduced 2020 season before having the "best season" of his career in 2021, which included claiming the Danny Buderus Medal.
Saifiti said he had come a "long way" and worked "extremely hard" to get his career on track following the pub punch-up.
"Up until that point, I sort of took everything for granted," he said.
"Just because it came so easy.
"I got the opportunity to play first-grade because we were rebuilding; 'Browny' just gave us all our debuts.
"If I was at any other club, I wouldn't have played over 100 games by now."
Handed his debut in 2016 alongside twin brother Daniel at only 19 years of age, Saifiti was thrust into first-grade earlier than most other props in the game.
Part of a side being rebuilt by former coach Nathan Brown, he played 18 games in his debut year, a further 21 in 2017 and eight before a shoulder injury cut short his 2018 campaign.
The 26-year-old is grateful he got his chance early, but admits he initially had a lax approach to professionalism.
"Just my preparation, my diet," he said. "I was just going through the motions. I was happy just to get picked.
"Things like ice baths, not that I didn't believe in them but I didn't do them right.
"I was getting better and better, but in 2018 I felt like I had turned the corner and then I broke my leg. I felt like I was square one again. I really knuckled down and told myself to give it a red-hot crack and see what comes of it."
Saifiti, who is unlikely to get a run with NSW next week, hopes the chance to play State of Origin will ultimately come his way.
He has already played rep footy for Fiji and plans to do so again at the World Cup later this year.
He and his brother are also eligible for Samoa, a potential sleeping giant of the international game, but Saifiti feels closer ties to Fiji.
"If I'm fit, I will definitely play for Fiji," he said.
"I'm proud of my Samoan heritage, but I grew up with my mum and nan and pop who are Fijian. I feel like if I was to take a spot [with Samoa], I would be taking it from someone who would die for that jersey. It would be selfish from that standpoint."
"I wouldn't be wearing it with as much pride as someone else would."
