South Sydney rushed Adam Reynolds back early from appendicitis, but it was halves partner Cody Walker who shot them to a 38-18 NRL win on Saturday over Manly.
The Rabbitohs were written off by most critics after Greg Inglis' season-ending knee injury in round one, but Walker showed there was still some fire left in the Bunnies' spine at Lottoland.
The 27-year-old was involved in everything, scoring one try, setting up two others and breaking the line three times for the Rabbitohs in the best game of his two-year career.
"Cody is a very distinctive player," Souths coach Michael Maguire said.
"He's really bought into the structures that we're doing when the time is right. He also buys into when there is a bit of broken play."
Robbie Farah scored his first try in Rabbitohs colours, as the Bunnies consigned Manly to their seventh straight loss, and their fourth in a row at their former Brookvale fortress.
It leaves the Sea Eagles one loss away from equalling the club record of eight.
After the hosts led 12-0 early, Walker rescued the Bunnies with an incredible 11-minute streak before halftime to turn the match.
He provided the last pass for Robert Jennings in Souths' opening try in the 18th minute, before he strolled over seven minutes later and Reynolds converted to level the scores at 12-12.
The second try came as Manly were reduced to 12 men with Blake Green sin binned for holding Kyle Turner back while chasing a kick, and Walker exploited a shortened defensive line when he broke downfield moments later.
After putting the Rabbitohs on the attack, he then found a barnstorming Sam Burgess who crossed under the posts for an 18-12 halftime lead as Reynolds' short kicking helped regain control of the game.
"He's come back from appendicitis after two weeks," Maguire said.
"That doesn't just happen. He's done a lot of work in the background."
Rising Manly star Tom Trbojevic put up stern resistance for the Sea Eagles after the break, evading a number of defenders to set up Daly Cherry-Evans to level at 18-18.
However, it proved futile as Alex Johnston crossed for a late double and Farah scored to wrap up the 20-point flogging.
Earlier, Manly had threatened to put a score on the under-fire Bunnies when Akuila Uate signalled a late-career revival.
He scored his first try in 11 months in the fifth minute on the right wing, and set up Trbojevic in the 12th after breaking free on a kick return.
Young centre Brian Kelly also scored between those two tries, but ex-Rabbitoh Dylan Walker's errant goalkicking meant Manly only held a 12-0 lead.
"To score four tries should be enough to win you a game," Barrett said.
"Some of our decisions when we were under fatigue and under the pump just weren't good enough."
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