Sydney Roosters coach Brian Smith has compared Todd Carney to Melbourne superstars Greg Inglis and Billy Slater following the re-born fullback's scintillating return to the NRL on Sunday.
Carney, playing his first top level game in 16 months, was simply brilliant in the unfamiliar No.1 jumper as the Roosters thrashed a woeful South Sydney 36-10 at ANZ Stadium.
He set up two tries – the first a magnificent example of perseverance and sublime kill - and kicked six goals to bury the memories of his ignominious exit from Canberra in 2008 under the weight of off-field scandals.
Just what he can bring to this Roosters side was underlined in the 48th minute when the visitors were hanging on to a 14-6 lead as Souths mounted a comeback.
Carney chased his own kick into the in-goal, ignoring the fact it seemed a futile exercise as the ball rolled towards the deadball line.
But somehow he reached the ball before it went dead, punching it back into the hands of Sam Perrett for a remarkable try.
It was all the Roosters from that point on.
"That's him. He's freakish. He never gives up…(he) sees things that certainly I wouldn't have seen," Smith said of Carney.
"Not too many players (would have). You are talking Inglis and Slaters and those sorts of guys."
A modest Carney played down his piece of brilliance, labelling it a 'fluke'.
"I didn't give up and it popped up and I gave it a hit as hard as I could and it ended up in our player's hands," he told Sportal in a vibrant Roosters dressing room.
"I didn't know where it went or whether my foot was outside the field."
"It was just eyes on the ball. I tried to do it earlier in the game and it ended up hitting the fence so the second time paid off."
"They are flukey things that can happen and I'll take it."
"It was just good to get a win and get a full game under my belt in my first game back in the NRL for a long time."
Smith, celebrating his 56th birthday, knew it was going to be his day when his Premier League team, Arsenal, scored a later winner overnight.
But he was not so certain in predicting the Roosters' 2010 fortunes after just one game
"I didn't really have any (expectations) to be honest," he said.
"I didn’t have a strong feel of where we're at and we still don’t have nearly enough evidence."
"We showed today that we've got a lively team that can do something but whether we're consistent or not enough, time will tell."
While Smith was full of praise for Carney, he saved his greatest plaudits for lock Nate Myles.
The new slimline Myles outshone big-name Souths import Sam Burgess, saving a certain try in the 53rd minute after chasing Rabbitohs flyer Nathan Merritt and forcing him to lose the ball.
It was a day for the unbelievable, the sometimes prickly Smith finishing his post-match press conference by thanking the media for their positive reporting of the club's re-building plans following the horrors of 2009.