Maika Sivo could join an elite group of Fijian flyers to top the NRL’s try-scoring charts in his rookie year with the race for the Ken Irvine Medal wide open.
With two rounds to go in the regular season, the Parramatta winger has crossed 16 times to be only one try behind leader Latrell Mitchell.
Rookie Manly winger Reuben Garrick is also still in the hunt, level with Sivo on 16, as is Warriors flyer Ken Maumalo.
All four of the leading contenders would achieve something remarkable if they finish top, but it is Sivo’s story that is most compelling.
Only three players have claimed the top tryscorer’s mark in their rookie season over the past 30 years, including fellow Fijians Noa Nandruku and Suliasi Vunivalu.
Nandruku was a star for the Raiders’ in his rookie year of 1993 with 22 four-pointers, while Vunivalu scored 23 in 2016 at Melbourne.
Alex Johnston is the only other rookie to have claimed the gong in his rookie year, with 21 in just 18 games for Souths in 2014.
But Sivo only began playing rugby league four years ago, for Gundagai in Group Nine.
A noted tryscorer there – where he scored 17 in 16 games in his first year – Sivo is now repeating those feats in the toughest competition in the world.
“I wasn’t expecting him to be leading the try-scoring, but I had high expectations around how he’d be able to perform,” says Parramatta coach Brad Arthur.
“We were quite vocal about it early in the piece with the club that he was going to be a good player. He’s still got a lot to learn about the game.”
Sivo’s final-round match up could well decide the top try-scorer prize.
Parramatta play Manly and 25-year-old Sivo will mark up against Garrick, who is also gunning to win the medal in his rookie year.
Unwanted and uncapped at St George Illawarra last season, Garrick has scored eight tries in his last six games for Manly.
Mitchell is aiming to become the first player since Mal Meninga in 1990 to top the points-scoring and try-scoring charts in the same year. He has the first category all but locked up, with 239 points, 35 clear of Jarrod Croker.
However the Sydney Roosters centre is no certainty to take on Penrith on Saturday due to injury.
Maumalo is looking to back up fellow Warriors winger David Fusitu’a’s efforts from last season to keep the medal in New Zealand.
THE RACE FOR THE KEN IRVINE MEDAL:
Latrell Mitchell (Sydney Roosters) – 17 tries
Reuben Garrick (Manly) – 16
Ken Maumalo (Warriors) – 16
Maika Sivo (Parramatta) – 16
James Tedesco (Sydney Roosters) – 14
Daniel Tupou (Sydney Roosters) – 14
Cody Walker (South Sydney) – 14