After being made to wait for his chance with NZ Warriors, five-eighth Luke Metcalf is starting to deliver on his immense promise, becoming the player the NRL contenders need him to be.
Metcalf, 24, didn't make his first-grade debut for the Warriors until round 13, after a hamstring injury in pre-season kept him sidelined for the start of the 2023 season.
Since a broken leg sidelined starter Te Maire Martin, Metcalf has slotted right into the Warriors plans alongside Shaun Johnson, with their 46-10 victory over Parramatta Eels proving the youngster's best performance so far.
On a night when most of the focus fell on senior teammates raising milestones, notably Johnson's 200 Warriors games and Dylan Walker's 200 NRL games, Metcalf quietly stole the show at Sydney's CommBank Stadium.
He scored twice, assisted another try, broke the line twice and threw two linebreak assists on attack, to go with 14 tackles on defence.
This run of form is welcome for the Warriors and Metcalf, who's had to endure a frustrating couple of years since announcing his move from Cronulla Sharks.
Now, as Kiwis international Martin nears a return to play after months out of action, Metcalf's displays have left his coach with difficult choices to make.
For coach Andrew Webster, Metcalf is doing everything he needs to do to keep hold of the No.6 jersey - this season and beyond.
"I thought Luke was good," said Webster. "The best part about Luke's game tonight was how reliable it was.
"It wasn't flashy - it looked flashy, because he's brilliant. He's fast and he moves well.
"It was within the way we wanted to play. Luke shines when he does that.
"I thought he was very good at it, he had a couple of really good plays there."
In particular, Metcalf's relationship with Johnson is a key cog in the Warriors attack. As a running half, he is the perfect foil for his senior teammate, who is happy to sit back and manage the game from halfback.
The success between Metcalf and Johnson is no fluke. The duo even made full use of the Warriors' last bye week to further solidify a combination that will only continue to grow, said Webster.
"I think it gets better every week. We're not trying to build that, but it goes from 0-100 very fast.
"We're trying to build it slowly, I thought the fruits of that came out tonight.
"It's a combination that we're going to continue to see growing. We need that combination to work at this stage, so it's good."
The win was the perfect response from the Warriors, after their result against South Sydney Rabbitohs condemning them to their worst loss of the season.
What a difference a week makes, with the 36-point margin providing the Warriors' largest victory of 2023 - so far.
Despite the success, Webster says there is still plenty of room for improvement for the side chasing a return to playoff football.
"We don't get carried away with any loss, we don't get carried away with wins," he added.
"We want to win as many games as we possibly can. Tonight, I don't know where it ranks out of 10.
"There's lots we've still got to work on. People will say I'm carrying on there a little bit.
"I feel like there's so many more parts to our game that we can keep getting better at, but there's so much to like. I was really happy."
The win moved the Warriors from eighth to fifth on the competition ladder, where they'll finish this weekend's round, with only Gold Coast Titans and the Dolphins left to play.
