After having the gauntlet thrown down to him by coach Anthony Seibold, rookie halfback Adam Doueihi has fired South Sydney to a 34-6 NRL upset of Manly at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.
In his second game of first grade, the 19-year-old played a deft hand in difficult, wet conditions and guided the Rabbitohs to their first win of the year.
Before Saturday, the Rabbitohs had won just five of 20 games missing Adam Reynolds, however the Lebanon international put on a classy display to pilot his side around the park.
After making his debut in last week's loss to Penrith, Seibold challenged his No.7 to take greater control of the game and he delivered in spades.
"I thought Adam and Cody (Walker) were really good in the halves," Seibold said.
"We challenged them to be better with the back ends of our sets, we didn't build enough pressure with our kicking game (against Penrith).
"I think we scored two tries from kicks tonight, we put some kicks on their wingers, that was the game plan and I thought they executed it much better than last week."
The Souths wingers dined out with Robert Jennings - who had his best game in first grade - grabbing a hat-trick and Richard Kennar crossing for a double.
The Sea Eagles came back to earth with a thud following their 54-0 defeat of Parramatta just six days earlier.
Daly Cherry-Evans had a night to forget, summed up when he was collared by George Burgess on the fifth tackle.
He also had a goal-line grubber scooped up by Alex Johnston who ran 100 metres.
Meanwhile his opposite number Doueihi stood out as the cardinal and myrtle celebrated coach Seibold's first victory.
Doueihi gave Seibold food for thought about what to do with him when Reynolds returns from a knee injury in the next two to three weeks.
After Souths led 14-0 at halftime, Doueihi straightened up the attack before they put it through the hands for Jennings' second.
And when he bombed high in the 55th minute, Tom Trbojevic came up with an uncharacteristic drop and Kennar scooped up the spoils to make it 24-6 and effectively kill off the game.
Souths prop Sam Burgess was also inspirational - on three occasions in the first-half he came up with a big hit or pounced on a loose ball to give his side possession inside their red zone.
Manly coach Trent Barrett questioned his side's desire and said they were out-enthused from the opening whistle.
"We were flat and never looked in it to be honest," Barrett said.
"They were good and beat us in every department. They wanted it more, they were hungrier than us and it showed.
"It's an attitude thing. We're still a young thing. If you're off in this competition at all, you get beat."
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