Luke Metcalf played his first NRL game in four months and led the New Zealand Warriors to a 28-12 upset over the Penrith Panthers.
Andrew Webster revealed despite Te Maire Martin pulled up with a hamstring issue on Wednesday, Metcalf did not have an attacking training rep.
Prior to this game, Metcalf's last game in the halves for the first grade side was back in Round 5 against the Cronulla Sharks, 125 days ago, where Metcalf gained a hamstring strain that would have him on the sidelines.
The soon-to-be Dragons halfback scored two tries of his own, along with 562 kicking metres that led the way with other incredible performances on Friday night.
"(I'm) really proud of the boys tonight," Webster said at the post-match press conference.
"I thought we played well for about 70 minutes, there was a 10 minute period where we lost our way.
"The proudest bit was when we dropped the ball, we didn't get the ball back for three sets on our line, we forced an error and got it back."
After Metcalf's performance, the biggest question of the night was about what Webster will do with his halves.
The Warriors coach didn't give much away, in fact, he has "no opinion on that at all."
"I just thought he (Metcalf) was good and I want to celebrate Luke," Webster said.
"He deserves praise tonight. But yeah, I'm not thinking future, certainly on game day, and it's too many twists and turns to worry about that right now."
How Te Maire Martin sustained the injury on his last rep on Wednesday was explained and gave his halves depth a lot of credit.
Martin could be back in "2-4 weeks" according to Webster post-match.
"It was late and unfortunate for Te Maire, but Luke — particularly the last five or six weeks — he's strung some really good footy together," the Warriors coach added
"At training our defence has been getting to defend Luke, which has been awesome. But just rapt with all our halves, from Tanah Boyd to Chanel to Te Maire to Luke.
"We've got some real quality ones and even Jett Cleary and Luke Hansen in our reserve grade. We get to face really good stuff at training each week and you pick any of them with confidence."
Leka Halasima, who Webster described as "fearless", was named to play centre against the Panthers and Andrew Webster confirmed he will play there again next week.
Webster reiterated the sentiment that every spot is up for grabs regardless of the position they play.
"I think the great players pick themselves each week," Webster said.
"I'm not worried about selection headaches for certain people. Leka certainly will be in the centres next week, but it's up for grabs for anyone that wants it.
"The boys compete that hard, and anyone that's not in the team right now, they can take it. But if Leka plays like that, he's not going anywhere. He deserves his spot."
The New Zealand Warriors will play the Brisbane Broncos in Round 24, where the Warriors continue their quest to cement a top four spot.
