Cody Walker's four-try haul has lifted South Sydney past a defiant Warriors 28-24 and drawn high praise from coach Wayne Bennett in the NRL's first visit to the Sunshine Coast.
The Rabbitohs five-eighth leapt to plant the match-winner with three minutes to play, capping a stirring comeback that looked out of reach after a sleepy start.
Walker and Damien Cook were the architects, combining all afternoon in front of a record 11,912 Saturday crowd at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
"He was outstanding. What Cody does best is run the football and that's what he did today," Bennett said.
"He was in a league of his own today."
The Warriors fought hard despite the loss of experienced halfback Blake Green before kickoff with a groin injury.
Second-gamer Chanel Harris-Tavita stepped up to guide the side well, kicking smartly and setting up a Tohu Harris try in the second half to edge the Kiwi outfit ahead 18-12.
When Sam Lisone spun his way over in the 50th minute, the Rabbitohs looked out of options.
But a big Sam Burgess hit on David Fusitu'a brought them and the pro-South Sydney crowd to life.
Ethan Lowe found the line soon after and Walker - who had already scored twice in the first half - terrorised the left edge with two more in the final seven minutes.
"The rhythm to our game wasn't there but I said to (assistant coach) Jason (Demetriou) we're starting to get back into a bit of a groove here," Bennett said.
"(Sam) knew they needed (a big defensive play) as well. We were starting to get back into it by then and he just put a bit more to it for us."
Walker had hooker Cook to thank, the speedy No.9 proving a constant handful and laying on two of Walker's tries to move them to 4-1 this season.
Warriors captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was electric in the first half, stepping off his right foot through the guts of the defence for the opening try.
But Warriors coach Stephen Kearney was disappointed they weren't able to turn that impressive start into two points.
"We just needed to manage the game more effectively," he said.
"They'd worked so hard to get themselves in the position ... you can't invite them back into the contest and I think we did that."