Melbourne Storm star Ryan Papenhuyzen gave fans a sensational welcome back to AAMI Park on Thursday night, scoring two tries while handing off another and nailing five goals.

His dominant outing against the Rabbitohs totaled 118 SuperCoach points to kick-start his season, a score 47 points greater than his next-best teammate in Cameron Munster.

Counterpart fullback Latrell Mitchell also broke triple figures during his side's defeat, amassing 104 points, offering as a valuable rival for any SuperCoaches looking to nail their No.1 spot.

While Papenhuyzen's dazzling display places the Storm with an early jump on the rest of the league, could there have been some added motivation for the New South Wales speedsters performance?

Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans recently revealed factors of his game were shaped around his own Supercoach side, with the Maroons star eventually having to quit the fantasy game after becoming obsessed with how he scored.

And while DCE looks to have continued his dominant role at Brookvale without an added focus on his metres gained, NRL greats have revealed there are multiple players across the league that are heavily impacted by their SuperCoach score.

Fox Sports' Greg Alexander stated Cherry-Evans' teammates are facing the same scenario.

“I know there are players that do and there might one or two around Manly who aren’t DCE that play the game for their SuperCoach numbers – offloads, metres made, there are players that do that [check their numbers at halftime]," Alexander said.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 22: Daly Cherry-Evans of the Sea Eagles and team mates look dejected after a Roosters try during the round 19 NRL match between the Manly Sea Eagles and the Sydney Roosters at Lottoland on July 22, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

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“I’ve heard there is players that will ignore what the team during the set what they’re trying to do and where they’re trying to go if they can see cheap metres on the other side of the field.

“Or, depending on what period the game is in and how desperate they are to get to their kick you’ve still got some players that offload in traffic just to get their numbers up.”

Newcastle great Andrew Johns revealed he also saw similar problems during his career.

“I’ve heard a few guys at another club that the middle forwards argued the toss about taking the ball up at the kick-off,” Johns said.

“It used to be the worst job, now they all want it because of SuperCoach metres”