{"id":403567,"date":"2026-04-29T17:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/403567\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T17:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:27:13","slug":"dolphins-forward-fighting-to-avoid-medical-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/403567\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins forward fighting to avoid medical retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dolphins<\/a> forward Daniel Saifiti<\/a> is no guarantee to play again, with the revelation that he will potentially be forced to medically retire.<\/p>\n

The prop is yet to play a game this year, and the Dolphins<\/a> have not set a return to play timeline as he battles a shoulder injury.<\/p>\n

The indefinite return timeline for the former New South Wales Origin prop is a major blow to the Dolphins<\/a>, who have struggled for form to start the 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n

Playing just eight games last year, it’s an issue that hampered Saifiti throughout 2025 after his off-season move from the Newcastle Knights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wide World of Sports are now reporting that the ongoing shoulder issue for Saifiti could force him into an early medical retirement, with the 29-year-old undergoing shoulder surgery at the end of 2025 that has proven unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

“It’s a real shame as Daniel is a great guy and a fine player,” a Dolphins<\/a> source told the publication.<\/p>\n

“He still has a few options, and we will help him any way we can – we just have to wait and see.”<\/p>\n

It’s understood a second surgery is being considered for the Fijian representative, but that it’s not a guarantee to work, or even take place.<\/p>\n

At full strength, he would likely be a starter for the Dolphins<\/a> in the front row.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins<\/a>, who were riddled by injuries in 2025, are having a better run of things throughout 2026, with the return of Tom Flegler<\/a> also helping after he missed the best part of two years with a separate shoulder issue that threatened his career.<\/p>\n

Saifiti has played 191 NRL<\/a> games across his time with the Knights and Dolphins<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dolphins forward Daniel Saifiti is no guarantee to play again, with the revelation that he will potentially be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-403567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}