Todd Carney took little time to establish himself in Sydney Roosters colours after a starring display in his side's crushing win over South Sydney at ANZ Stadium yesterday.
Carney, debuting for the Roosters and playing his first game in the NRL since July 2008 when he was sacked by Canberra following a string of off-field incidents, was in the thick of the action for his new team as the tri-colours ran in six tries to two.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Mitchell Pearce both finished the match with doubles.
The 22-year-old fullback even provided an early candidate for try of the year as he chipped ahead to beat defenders before acrobatically leaping into the air and tapping the ball back to teammates as it bounced over the dead ball line.
Sam Perrett scored to give the Roosters a 20-6 lead early in the second half.
Any chance the Bunnies had of getting back into the contest evaporated moments later when Nathan Merritt - on his way for what would have been a length-of-the-field try - inexplicably dropped the ball with the line wide and no defender in sight.
Two minutes later Aidan Guerra put the game further out of Souths' reach, making it 26-6 after another Carney bust down the western touchline. Pearce and Kenny-Dowall completed their doubles as the 23,149-strong crowd headed for the exits.
The only downside to a successful opening-round trip for the visitors came with injuries to Tom Symonds, who suffered a hyper-extended knee, and James Aubusson, who damaged a quadricep, though neither is expected to be out of action for long.
The much-vaunted South Sydney pack started the match with plenty of venom, but the Roosters - hoping to bounce back from a nightmare 2009 season - took little time to work their way around the Rabbitohs big men, with Carney and Pearce creating havoc.
Pearce ran over back-rower Eddy Pettybourne for the first try after 12 minutes and was denied a second when Carney's last pass to the Roosters halfback went forward.
Kenny-Dowall made it 12-0 when he ran 90m after picking off a Chris Sandow pass.
The Rabbitohs halved the deficit when Merritt scored the first of his two tries - the second coming in the final minute - when he pounced on a Sandow kick for a 12-6 score at the break.
It proved to be rare bright spot on a grim Rabbitohs day.
- AAP
NRL: Carney is the star as Rabbitohs flop
Roosters Sam Perrett and Mitchell Pearce tackle Rhys Wesser. Photo / Getty Images
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