Kosi dining at top table with club's premier try scorers

Vodafone Warriors winger Edward Kosi’s rich vein of form has him right up among the best in the club’s history.

The 23-year-old became the newest member of the hat-trick club with his treble against Melbourne on July 29 and he has since gone on to lift his tally to seven in his four appearances since returning to the NRL side after his disappointing performance against the Storm on Anzac Day.

The run started with a try in his comeback match against Parramatta, followed by his hat-trick, another touchdown against South Sydney and then two more in the club’s impressive 42-18 win over Canterbury-Bankstown last Friday night.

And it’s not over yet with tonight’s encounter with North Queensland providing an opportunity to keep the streak going.

Kosi’s output in his last four games gives him a place at the top table with the club’s premier strike weapons.

The best four-game grabs belong to foundation Vodafone Warrior Phil Blake and destructive winger Francis Meli.

Blake scored nine tries in the club’s first four matches in existence in 1995 – the Warriors’ historic first try against Brisbane, two against Illawarra, four against Western Suburbs and two against North Sydney.

Meli scored a total of 10 tries in five consecutive games late in the 2003 season with one each against Newcastle and Brisbane, two against the Sydney Roosters, one against Wests Tigers and his NRL finals record five against the Bulldogs in week one of the play-offs.

Manu Vatuvei had an impressive seven in four consecutive wins late in the 2008 season including tries in the finals wins over the Storm and the Roosters while David Fustiu’a scored tries in five straight games in 2018, a total of eight in all.

Vatuvei actually had seven in three straight games taking in a double against the Bulldogs in the last match of the 2009 season, two more in the opening round loss to the Titans in 2010 and a hat trick against Cronulla Sutherland in round two.

When Konrad Hurrell blazed onto the NRL scene in 2012, he collected a total of 11 tries after scoring in seven consecutive matches.

Seven is the club record for consecutive try-scoring appearances, a mark shared by Meli (2004), Todd Byrne (2005), Vatuvei (2010) and Hurrell (2012).

The club’s record try scorer Vatuvei is the most consistent.

Across a career which netted 152 tries in 226 games he not only managed one instance of scoring in seven games on end but he also did so in six matches in 2013, had a run of five in a row in 2005 and had four-match scoring streaks five times (2006, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2015).

Meli has the club record for most tries in a match with five while six players have struck four times in a game – Blake in 1995, Stacey Jones in 1999, Jerome Ropati in 2006, Joel Moon in 2009, Glen Fisiiahi in 2014 and Fusitu’a in 2016.

Vatuvei has the top mark for most hat-tricks with six.

Until Ken Maumalo’s back-to-back trebles against the Storm last year and Kosi’s this season, only one hat-trick had come in a loss, the sole exception being Michael Crockett’s triple strike against South Sydney in 2008.