St Helens head coach Justin Holbrook heaped praise on his outstanding fullback Ben Barba after the 2012 Dally M Medallist produced a faultless display that inspired his side to a 34-2 victory over Salford.
Barba was in sensational form for the Saints as he scorched over for two well-taken tries and had a hand in two others to send the Red Devils home tryless.
The 28-year-old grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck after 25 minutes of anaemic rugby league from Holbrook's side.
When he chimed in to dab a perfectly weighted kick to Tommy Makinson for Saints' first try, the home side began to get the blood pumping.
Ten minutes later Saints were in again thanks to a brilliant offload from Alex Walmsley who had sucked in four tacklers before slipping the ball to skipper James Roby who fired out to Barba to finish in style.
Holbrook admitted he was relieved the game was played after the UK's wild weather had thrown the fixture into doubt.
And out of all the players Holbrook put through their paces in the St Helens snow, it was one from North Queensland who led the way.
"If there's someone who is going to complain about the snow and the weather conditions, it's Benny as he's from North Queensland," he said.
"He been in the thick of it and saying to the lads, 'What are you complaining about? Let's get on with it'. He's in a good place at the moment, is playing well and it's good to have him here."
Holbrook did concede, however, that his team were not at their best against the Red Devils.
"It was a good win in the end but it was a bit of a scratchy performance," he said. "It took us a long time to settle down but in the end we found a good balance and got away with the win.
"It's good to keep them tryless and that's one thing that kept us together and going. It's been a difficult week as the game was off and on and you are training in snow.
"You are never going to be brilliant when you have a tough week and have poor conditions like that.
"But I wanted to play today. Yes, we have a five-day turnaround but we wanted to play this game.
"We will be fine for Friday, but today the most important thing was the win."
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