The youngest-ever Kangaroo, who turned 22 this week, has played in 82 top-grade games for the Knights after making his NRL debut in 2014 as an 18-year-old.

Newcastle’s most-capped player is former NSW and Australian skipper Danny Buderus, who made 257 appearances in two stints between 1997 and 2013.

If Mata’utia can avoid injury, and any recurrence of the concussion issues that briefly plagued his career last year, he could conceivably smash Buderus’s record and become the first Knight to appear in 300 top-grade fixtures.

“It’s one of those personal goals to try and get past that record,” Mata’utia told the Newcastle Herald.

“I think Bedsy has got it at the moment, and I don’t want to think too far ahead, but I’m a proud Knights player and I just want to stay a one-club man.

“Obviously in rugby league things can change pretty quickly and I know how hard it will be to reach that goal.

“It would obviously mean the world to me if I can reach it, but at this stage of my career I just want to focus on my form and keep taking it game by game.”

The explosive centre/back-rower said it was a relief to have his future secure after negotiations with the Knights kicked off almost a year ago.

They were put on hold late last season when he suffered a series of career-threatening concussions.

He underwent a battery of tests and withdrew from the Samoan squad who competed at last year’s World Cup, but was cleared to return in round one this season and has not missed a game since.

In hindsight, Mata’utia said he was grateful for the cautious approach taken by Newcastle’s high-performance staff and the neurological experts.

“Originally it was meant to be a precautionary scan but they ended up finding something,” he said.

“I’m pretty thankful the club went down the path of being so careful.

“I think the three months off with no contact helped in the long run, because I’ve had a few head knocks of late and I haven’t reacted like I used to. I’ve pretty much got over it straight away, so it’s all worked out well in the end.”

Asked if he was ever concerned that his career might end prematurely, Mata’utia replied: “I tried not to think too much about it, but I think any human would have that thought in the back of their head: ‘What if it all finished?’

“But I tried to stay positive, and my partner and my brothers and the medical staff were all unreal with their support.”

Mata’utia’s new deal ties him to Newcastle until at least the end of 2021, by which time he hopes the Knights can be title contenders.

“A hundred per cent, that’s the vision of everyone at the club,” he said. “I think that goal of lifting the trophy within the next three or four years is pretty realistic.”