Northland players high in scoring stakes

ADDING MACHINE: Dan Hawkins is cutting up the points table, having scored 118 points this season to sit second overall. PHOTO/John Stone

As if 2014 hasn't already been a success, several Taniwha players are right up there with regard to individual performances.

Fly-half Dan Hawkins currently sits second equal, with 118 points, in the leading points scorer stakes - disregarding last night's game between Otago and Manawatu, which featured Otago's Hayden Parker who sits eight points behind Hawkins.

Leading Hawkins, and the other ITM Cup point scorers, is Tasman's Marty Banks who has scored 143 points to date - not far off his mammoth 170 points last year.

While a hefty achievement, and over double of the 46 points he scored last season, Hawkins is still more than 50 points behind Lachie Munroe's 172 points from the 2010 season.

Fullback Matt Wright has a chance of equalling Jared Payne's record of seven tries in a season, also in 2010, with the Wellsford player having scored five so far.

However, Wright is still a fair few off Hawke's Bay's Ryan Tongia, who has scored 10 so far.

As a team though, Northland are right up there. The Taniwha boast the Championship division's second-highest number of tries scored this season, with 28, just two behind Hawke's Bay.

While not picking up as many tries as he would have hoped for as yet, Jone Macilai sits fourth equal overall for the number of clean breaks the Fijian has made this season - with 17, just three off first place.

* Payne and Munroe's records only relate to seasons since 2006.