Kotoni Staggs has enjoyed a rip-roaring start to the 2020 NRL season and finds himself top of the try-scoring list after only a handful of games. Can the Broncos star keep up this early season momentum and establish a lead over the chasing pack or has he simply been in the right place at the right time so far?
After all, becoming the league’s top try-scorer over the opening few fixtures doesn’t necessarily mean you will finish at the summit come the end of the season. If you were to imagine the start of a marathon for just a second, and the runners that sprint away into the distance, well, they never get anywhere close to winning. 21-year-old Staggs for instance, finished in 21st place last season with 11 tries once the season had come to a conclusion. That’s only seven more than he currently has now which suggests that there is a long way to go still.
FOOOOTYYYYYYYYYYYYY! #NRLBroncosEels #TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/Eq7kRvN7dW
— NRL (@NRL) May 28, 2020
To earn the Ken Irvine medal you have to be consistent, measured and hope for a bit of luck by staying injury-free. That’s not to say that Staggs doesn’t have all of those attributes, in fact, he’s getting better all the time and could be on the cusp of a breakthrough season. The Broncos also think he’s on the verge of kicking off his career having offered him a new deal at the back end of 2019, one which he signed that will keep him in Brisbane until 2021. The omens are good and many rugby league fans are expecting big things from the Wellington-born centre.
Furthermore, the latest rugby league odds have the youngster as the current favourite at 8/1 to end the season at the top try scorer but it’s early days yet. Chasing him down will be Maika Sivo of the Eels who will be keen to make it back-to-back top try-scorer awards.
The 26-year-old scooped the prestigious award last season after crossing the whitewash 22 times in 25 games. It’s been a good start for the Eels in the 2020 season as well having gone unbeaten so far which is good news for Sivo and his hopes of defending his title. At the end of the day, you have to be in a side that is enjoying a successful season to stand a chance of winning this award.
Huge congrats to Maika Sivo, who has just been presented with the Ken Irvine medal #DallyM pic.twitter.com/00yeJKRWPq
— Triple M NRL (@TripleM_NRL) October 2, 2019
Indeed, if you look at last year’s top scorer’s log and how it ended up, you will see Latrell Mitchell and James Tedesco from the Roosters just behind Sivo in second and third place respectively. Proving once again that the stronger the side, the more chance there is to score.
This all means that Kotoni Staggs will have to enjoy the season of his life to keep some very talented and experienced players in his wake. Of course, it’s a marathon and not a sprint but you’d have to say so far so good, however, and that starting as you mean to go is never a bad way of trying to accomplish what you have set out for yourself.
