A breakout season in every sense of the word.
Following the departure of Kevin Proctor at the end of the 2016 season Kaufusi was the man asked to step up and fill those big shoes. He not only filled them, he thrived in them.
Heading into 2017 Kaufusi had averaged just 25 minutes of playing time per game. This season though he became an 80-minute player, featuring in all 27 games for Melbourne to make that second row position his own.
As far as stats go, Kaufusi had a career best season for metres gained, tackles, line breaks, offloads, tackle busts and tries.
The 25-year-old also ranked in the top 10 in the NRL for tackles and No.1 at Storm, a stat Cameron Smith had made exclusively his own for the last three seasons. Kaufusi also made 70 per cent of his one-on-one tackles, the third best percentage in the competition.
As his star rose, so too did representative honours. He received a call up to the Maroons squad as 18th man for the series decider and was selected in Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos squad for the World Cup.
Kaufusi also added a milestone to his memorable season, playing his 50th NRL game in a Round 13 victory over the Knights at AAMI Park.
Games played |
Tackles |
Mins played |
Run metres |
Tries scored |
27 |
898 |
2092 |
2451 |
9 |
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