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Mangere East Hawks junior Edward Kosi has been re-signed on a two year deal to his club One New Zealand Warriors. The 24 year old from Auckland has so far made an impressive start to the 2023 NRL season with strong performances in each of the club’s first three matches.
He scored the club’s first try of the season in the first-round 20-12 win over Newcastle in Wellington and was on the scoresheet again in Saturday night’s 26-12 victory over North Queensland in Townsville.
“I can’t say enough about Ed. He has been terrific making huge improvements in all parts of his game during the preseason and then taking that into the first three rounds of the competition,” says One New Zealand Warriors head coach Andrew Webster.
“His desire to get better every day has earned him a starting spot and he has now seen the rewards of his hard work with three strong performances in first grade.”
Kosi ran for 100 metres against the Knights, followed it up with 145 metres from 15 runs in the tough contest with the Roosters last week and 114 metres against the Cowboys.
“In Ed we have another home-grown player who has come through our system to make it into the NRL,” said One New Zealand Warriors general manager recruitment, development and pathways Andrew McFadden.
“He has worked so hard at his game since making his debut, overcoming some adversity along the way, and has firmly established himself as an NRL player. He fully deserves his new contract.”
Kosi made his debut in dramatic circumstances against the Cowboys in 2021 when he was rushed into the starting line-up less than two hours before kick-off to replace an injured David Fusitu’a. He has gone on to play 19 first-grade matches scoring 11 tries including eight in 11 appearances last season; with his try on Saturday night he has nine touchdowns in his last 10 matches.
Kosi started with the club’s Jersey Flegg Cup under-20 side in 2018 and 2019 and was also used in the New South Wales Cup in 2019 and 2020 before the competition was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. While the One New Zealand Warriors were based in Australia, Kosi scored 11 tries in 15 games for feeder club Redcliffe in the Queensland Cup in 2021 and 2022.
