Cooper Cronk left predecessor Mitchell Pearce in his wake and had a hand in all seven of the Sydney Roosters' tries in their 38-8 thrashing of Newcastle.
After walking out on his long-time NRL club following the signing of Cronk last year, Pearce heaped the pressure on the Roosters by declaring they had to win the title this year.
But Cronk and halves partner Luke Keary showed on Sunday night they have every chance to deliver on their favouritism, sending a warning to the competition of how dangerous their combination could be.
The pair combined directly for three tries - including a try-of-the-year contender off the final play of the first half.
Leading 18-8 and bringing the ball out of their own end, Cronk chipped for a flying Keary, who regathered and produced a magical flick pass as he was ankle tapped for Victor Radley to score.
The pair had earlier helped open the scoring in the sixth minute when Cronk changed the direction of play close to the line with an inside ball to Keary, before Latrell Mitchell stepped his way over.
A Cronk kick later led to a Jared Waerea-Hargreaves try, before the former Storm stalwart found a rampaging Keary who pushed his way through Brock Lamb for the Roosters' third.
The pair were at it again early in the second half when Cronk grubbered for Keary, only to scoop it up himself to score and put the game beyond doubt.
Cronk's other second-half involvements came in two four-pointers to Blake Ferguson.
He kick-started a length-of-the-field effort shortly after the break when he swooped on an errant Newcastle pass before he and Joseph Manu put Ferguson away.
He later kicked for the Roosters winger to score another try.
"It's the amount of time they spend together," coach Trent Robinson said.
"They get along really well off the field and they spend a lot of time talking about it.
"It's about training time but it's also about other discussions there. They're still trying to find their rhythm. But them they complement each other really well."
Meanwhile Pearce managed to set up the Knights' only try in the first half, when he grubbered early for fellow-former Rooster Aidan Guerra.
But it was an otherwise unhappy night for Nathan Brown's men, who also lost former Rooster Connor Watson for up to 12 weeks to a shoulder injury after it popped out twice in the first half.
"Mitchell handled it very well," Brown said.
"There was obviously a lot of pressure on the Roosters, with what they've brought in. And if they don't win the comp people are going to be saying that's not good enough. But it's hard to win a comp.
"There was a lot of pressure on them today and they handled it very well, and I thought Mitchell and Aidan and Connor handled it very well as well."
