While Shaun Johnson rightfully grabbed the headlines in NZ Warriors' 44-12 demolition of Cronulla Sharks, up-and-coming centre Rocco Berry's best NRL display has not gone unnoticed by his coach.
The son of former All Black Marty Berry, Rocco, 22, has had to bide his time breaking into the Warriors ranks, since his 2021 debut.
Now, under coach Andrew Webster, Berry's commitment to making it as an first-grade centre has seen him start to flourish. As the Warriors stormed to their biggest home victory of the season, his display may be the catalyst for bigger things.
In 80 minutes, he scored one try, ran 11 times for 129 metres, created a further two tries and made 15 tackles.
With Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's return expected to provide competition in the centres next year, the rest of 2023 will undoubtedly give the likes of Berry a chance to prove their worth to Webster.
Webster has no doubts about the qualities Berry brings to the side.
"We love Roc," said Webster. "The biggest thing about him is [that] his effort has been unbelievable.
"I think everyone's starting to see the class he has as well. He's worked really hard on his game, he's finally getting a break injurywise.
"We're starting to see the best of Roc, he's a beauty."
Meanwhile, Webster also addressed the fitness of captain Tohu Harris, who appeared to suffer an injury in the first half of Sunday's win.
Harris, 31, came from the field before halftime and received treatment on his wrist, but Webster clarified that he was not injured, but unwell, after illness swept through the Warriors camp during the week.
In another statement of resilience from the captain - who has already defied medical expertise to play through a knee injury this year - Harris was never going to sit out of such an important game.
"We've had a lot of sickness through the place," Webster explained. "Tohu came into the game pretty questionable.
"You know what Tohu's like - he's tough, he's brave, he does whatever he can for the team.
"We didn't want to take him for granted and flog him, when he is that sick. We just managed his minutes tonight.
"We've got a lot of good players and, if someone goes off, someone else stands up."
The win briefly saw the Warriors into the top NRL four - before Canberra Raiders added their bye points - and can add to their incredible season against the Raiders next Friday.
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