Manu Vatuvei

Needing to beat the Eels in the last round of the regular season, Vatuvei scored a hat-trick of tries, as the Warriors convincingly won 28–6 to qualify in 8th spot and book a match against minor premiers Melbourne Storm.

In the finals series, The Warriors won 18–15 at Olympic Park, where the Storm had only lost twice in three seasons.

Vatuvei scored one of the Warriors three tries and was denied another by a forward pass ruling.

Manu Mapuhola Mafi-Vatuvei (born 4 March 1986), also known by the nickname "The Beast", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who was both a Tonga and New Zealand international representative er.

He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL and for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League.

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 4 March 1986, Vatuvei is of Tongan descent.

He grew up in the same Ōtara neighbourhood as Ruben Wiki and attended Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate.

His cousin is Tongan-Japanese rugby union player Ruatangi Vatuvei.

Vatuvei played for the Otara Scorpions and Otahuhu Leopards in Auckland Rugby League competitions before playing for the Otahuhu Ellerslie Leopards in the Bartercard Cup.

When he was only 16 he joined the New Zealand Warriors development squad.

Vatuvei made his NRL debut for the New Zealand Warriors in Round 11 against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on the wing in the Warriors 26–12 win at Sydney Football Stadium.

He played in 5 matches in his debut year.

In Round 4 of the 2005 season, against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Mt Smart Stadium.

Vatuvei scored his first NRL career try in the Warriors' 46–14 win.

Vatuvei finished the year with him playing in 12 matches and scoring 9 tries for the Warriors.

In the post season, Vatuvei made his international debut for New Zealand against Australia on 16 October 2005.

It was the opening game of the Tri-Nations, where the Kiwis beat the Kangaroos 38–28 at ANZ Stadium.

Vatuvei later went on to play in the 2005 Tri-Nations final, scoring two tries on the way to a 24–0 victory over Australia at Elland Road Stadium in Leeds.

Vatuvei played 5 matches and scored 3 tries in the series.

Vatuvei finished the 2006 NRL season with 10 tries from 18 matches.

In the post season, he was selected for the New Zealand Tri-Nations squad playing in 5 matches and scoring 2 tries, including playing in the Kiwis 16–12 golden point extra time loss to Australia in the final.

Vatuvei was selected to play for the New Zealand on the wing in the 2007 Anzac Test match against Australia, scoring a try in the Kiwis 6–30 loss.

After playing in 23 matches, Vatuvei was joint top try scorer for the Warriors alongside Jerome Ropati and Michael Witt with 10 tries in the 2007 NRL season.

Vatuvei was a member of the New Zealand national team that won the 2008 World Cup.

He became the Warriors' top try scorer, and the first player in NRL history to score at least 10 tries in 10 consecutive seasons.

In the 2008 season, Vatuvei suffered a broken leg in Round 7 against the Gold Coast Titans, Vatuvei returned from injury to help the Warriors push for the playoffs.

Vatuvei was named in the New Zealand squad for the 2008 World Cup.

He went on to star in the tournament, breaking New Zealand's World Cup record for most tries in a match with four against England.

Vatuvei went on to play in the first New Zealand team to win the World Cup, defeating Australia in the final.

Vatuvei played in 5 matches and scored 4 tries in the tournament.

He was named International Winger of the year in 2008.

Vatuvei was selected to play for New Zealand on the wing in the 2009 Anzac Test match against Australia, scoring a try in the 38–10 loss.

The Warriors failed to make the finals, but Vatuvei finished the season as the club's top try-scorer with 13 tries in 19 matches in the 2009 NRL season.

On 13 February, Vatuvei played for the NRL All Stars in the inaugural All Stars match at Skilled Park.

In Round 13 against the St George Illawarra Dragons at Mt Smart Stadium, Vatuvei played his 100th NRL career match as the Warriors lost 20–22.

On 24 August, Vatuvei announced that he had extended his Warriors contract until the end of the 2013 season.

Vatuvei surpassed Stacey Jones' club record of 77 tries in the first week of play-off matches against the Gold Coast Titans; the Warriors lost the match 28–16 at Skilled Park.

He was the Warriors highest tryscorer for the 4th year in a row with 20 tries in 19 matches.

With the Warriors trailing 15–14 in the 78th minute, he received an offload from Jerome Ropati and busted several tackles over a run of 40m before passing to Michael Witt who sprinted 20m to score the match-winning try.

Vatuvei scored another try in the Warriors 30–13 elimination semi-final victory over the Sydney Roosters at Mt Smart Stadium, the game that qualified the Warriors for the preliminary final against the Manly Sea Eagles, which they later lost 32–6 at SFS.