An unassuming Alex Johnston has stolen the limelight not long after indulging in record-breaking feats from his previous South Sydney appearance in NRL Indigenous Round.
The winger crossed for three tries towards his career 150th milestone on Saturday to set up a crucial 30-16 Rabbitohs' win on the Gold Coast.
Johnston's trio elevated him to 14 tries for the season to hurdle above this year's leading try-scorers.
The Torres Strait Islander opened the match swerving back inside the field of play off a looping floater.
His second came from a timely in-and-way run to the corner and the hat-trick while on the end of classic drawing and passing.
Johnston had just broken a club mark of 146 tries from proud Wiradjuri man Nathan Merritt a fortnight earlier.
"A couple of those tries, he really had to finish them," South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou said.
"Sometimes wingers just have to put the ball down but any half a chance or a quarter chance, AJ turns into four points and it's crucial to our team.
"But it's also the work he is doing at the back of the field that is also as infectious as he is scoring tries.
"I thought his kick returns were outstanding, he had a lot of energy in the first half and that's given us field position to do what we did at the other end."
Latrell Mitchell was not available for the trip to Robina after testing positive to COVID-19 on his return from the US for treatment on a troublesome hamstring.
But the news was worse for the struggling Gold Coast outfit on the back of its dynamic fullback Jayden Campbell missing the first of eight possible matches.
Scans confirmed the Kamilaroi-Daingatti man suffered a high-grade hamstring tear last week.
Meanwhile Josh Addo-Carr responded to last week's shock State of Origin omission from the New South Wales squad to drive underdogs Canterbury to an upset 34-4 victory.
The Gunggandji, Birrbay and Wiradjuri man ran in three tries against a Parramatta side that on Monday afternoon appeared all at sea.
The ex-Storm winger caught a sharp cross-kick on the full to first dash away to the line in the sixth minute of the rivalry clash.
Addo-Carr created further carnage in the 47th minute to speed away from the Eels' defence from a grubber kick before five minutes later sprinting half the field with ball in hand after catching an errant floating pass.
Brisbane rookie Ezra Mam continued to impress on Saturday night at five-eighth in the gutsy 24-18 triumph over Canberra.
The Murri teenager first stepped around three Raiders defenders to get to the line and put the Broncos in front after eight minutes.
Combining with Broncos star halfback Adam Reynolds, Mam added two try assists in front of delirious home fans.
Adam Elliott's try off a short ball put the Raiders back in front as the lead changed for the sixth time during the 34-point opening half.
Fullback Scott Drinkwater ignited North Queensland's dynamic home start towards a 31-12 victory over St George-Illawarra.
The 25-year-old crossed for a try from a sharp inside pass metres from the line during the opening five minutes of Friday night's meeting.
Newcastle flyer Edrick Lee provided a lone highlight for Penrith in their 42-6 trouncing against Newcastle.
Lee dashed 45 metres right down the left wing to outpace Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary in pursuit.
Reece Walsh scored eight points for the New Zealand Warriors in the first 12 minutes including sneaking out wide for the opening try to shock Cronulla.
But the 19-year-old's early efforts could not withstand the following five tries from the Sharks on Sunday towards a deflating 38-16 defeat.
Will Kennedy would later go on to collect Cronulla's seventh of eight tries at Redcliffe.
In other round 14 matches, Melbourne Storm held off Sydney Roosters 24-18 while Manly dominated Wests Tigers 30-4.
- Story by Andrew Mathieson
