- Jacob and Daniel Safiti fail to fool referee Belinda Sharpe
- Daniel tried to switch places with Jacob after a high shot
- Jacob was then thrown out as sin for his action and reported
NRL identical twins Jacob and Daniel Safiti had commentators in hot water after they tried to fool a referee by switching places during Newcastle’s trial match against Melbourne.
Jacob was punished for a late shot at Storm prop Tui Kamikamica in the 66th minute, starting a battle between the teams.
The pushing and shoving distracted referee Belinda Sharpe, who tried to calm the situation – and in the meantime, Jacob quietly left the field to be replaced by Daniel.
The referee immediately saw the bold move and asked Daniel: ‘Where is Jacob? Put it back on.”
A sheepish Daniel smiled and gestured for his brother to come back onto the field.
NRL identical twins Jacob and Daniel Safiti tried to fool the referee but she didn’t fall for it
Referee Belinda Sharpe saw the cheeky trick and told Daniel to get Jacob back on the field
“Oh, wait a minute, the old switcheroo,” said Footy commentator Andrew Voss.
“The brothers, oh, that’s so clever, Newcastle. I stand (and) applaud. You took him off the field, great. That’s a nice piece of play. That’s rugby league.
“You can go back now and sit down. Belinda Sharpe has the last laugh, but they’ve made the switch with the identical twins. A brilliant bit of rugby league there. What a moment that is.’
‘How did she pick it up? Belinda, how good was that?,” Steve Roach added.
Jacob was then thrown out as sin for his action and reported.
Halfback Jahrome Hughes looked on form midway through the season with a checking performance and two try assists in the 28-10 win for the Storm.
Ryan Papenhuyzen continued his return to the NRL side with two stints at fullback but was well handled by the Knights.
But fellow backbone member and new club captain Harry Grant looked at his best and sealed his performance with a dummy half-scoot try-off.
Melbourne defeated a lethargic-looking Newcastle team in Fiji 28-10
The Melbourne Storm had no trouble getting the job done against the Knights
It wasn’t the performance Newcastle fans were hoping for as their side looked to take things forward ahead of the new campaign.
They missed a pile of tackles and looked lazy in defense at times, especially when Storm five-eighth Jonah Pezet danced through their line and scored untouched in the first half.
Newcastle’s attack also floundered, with a number of passes going to ground at key moments.
A blazing run from star No. 1 Kalyn Ponga, which allowed center Bradman Best to score in the shadow of half-time, was clearly their best moment of the match.
The Knights parked their stars on the pine tree early in the second half, with bench forwards Kai Pearce-Paul (42 metres) and Jack Hetherington (62 metres) battling to break into the starting line-up.
Utility Jack Cogger appears to have lost the race for a starting half role to Tyson Gamble and Jackson Hastings, who came off the bench to spell Phoenix Crossland at hooker.
Storm talent Kane Bradley (40m) didn’t set the world on fire after being named to start in the back row, although his likely substitute Shawn Blore (29m) didn’t do much to take the spot from him.
Storm prop Tui Kamikamica looked inspired as he played in front of his home crowd, covering 88 meters in the first half alone to comfortably lead his side.