Kotoni Staggs produced arguably the best showing of his young NRL career on Thursday night, firing the Brisbane Broncos to a convincing win and justifying the confidence of his coach in the process.
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The Wellington junior scored two tries and made two line breaks, two line-break assists and ran for 144 metres in the 28-6 win over the Dean Pay-coached Canterbury Bulldogs.
Staggs has only missed the one game this year, a clash with South Sydney where Anthony Seibold opted for an all-forwards bench, but the coach soon brought him back in to the starting side.
"If not his best game then one of his best," Seibold said of Staggs to the NRL post-game.
"He saw some early footy and he got some opportunities that he took close to the line which was pleasing, and was really good defensively.
"Kotoni has got enormous potential and I've backed him since game one when I came here.
"I made some tough calls in round seven or round eight to get Kotoni back into the [starting] team.
"I have got so much belief in him and I think he will only get better as well off the back of his hard work at training where he is really diligent with his preparation."
The only sour point for Staggs was when he was put on report for lifting his knees while in possession of the ball when tackled by Corey Harawira-Naera.
However, Staggs' clean record means he won't miss any games for a Broncos side closing in on the top eight.