DANIEL Saifiti led the Newcastle Knights onto the field for his 100th NRL game.
He continued leading from the front throughout Friday night's season opener at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The NSW prop crossed twice for tries from short range, helped set up another through pressure from his kick chase, proved a handful for Canterbury's defence when carrying the ball, made 174 metres and produced 27 tackles.
Saifiti admitted having "goosebumps" initially but relished the extra responsibility and marked his NRL milestone by stepping up for the Knights, playing the first 52 minutes unchanged and helping the hosts claim a 32-16 victory.
He received a warm reception from the 19,555 Novocastrian faithful when he eventually came off for a break.
Knights coach Adam O'Brien also praised his co-captain after full-time.
"He did everything I knew he would," O'Brien said.
"That's who he is as a bloke. We call him the alpha male. He certainly showed that tonight."
Saifiti said it was a "special" experience.
"I had goosebumps running out, I'm not going to lie," Saifiti said.
"I've never done that before, I've never been captain of any team, so for Adzy [O'Brien] to choose me out of all the boys was pretty special and something I don't take lightly.
"It's still pretty crazy thinking about that now and the win is just the cherry on top."
Saifiti landed four pointers in each half against the Bulldogs, the first opened Newcastle's account and the second came shortly after the break with twin brother Jacob running a decoy.
"Maybe under 8s at the Terrigal Sharks," Saifiti said about the last time he scored two tries in the same match.
"I honestly couldn't tell you."
Saifiti shared the leadership duties with Knights hooker Jayden Brailey, who had his first game back in 12 months and it looked like he never left.
"For 80 minutes right in the middle he did a really good job," O'Brien said about Brailey, who made 50 tackles.
Newcastle's mentor also mentioned club debutants Tyson Frizell and Sauaso Sue.
"Really happy for the debutants, Jesse and Tyson, I thought they were outstanding," O'Brien said.
Origin and Test representative Frizell showed his class wearing red and blue colours for the first time.
