A ruthless Roosters right edge painted a maroon-and-white target on Kieran Foran in his first Manly outing in six years, rattling up seven tries down his edge in a record 46-4 Sydney Cricket Ground carve-up.
James Tedesco and Brett Morris both helped themselves to hat-tricks as the Tricolours had a field day at the SCG, the latter's treble his 11th in 275 NRL games.
Four of those have now come in the 35 games he's played in red, white and blue, while the 42-point thumping was the Roosters biggest round one win since 1908, and Manly’s heaviest opening loss since 1947.
Tedesco was the Roosters everywhere man as he and Luke Keary combined in lethal fashion again and again down their right side, the new No.7 shifting sides, but holding a roving commission, as he partners Lachlan Lam at the scrum base in 2021.
"It was a really good start from him in lots of different ways," coach Trent Robinson said of Tedesco.
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"He's trained very hard, he's highly intelligent, and he loves the tough stuff and he has good eyes while he is doing the tough stuff."
Keary meanwhile was dubbed 'Cooper' by his teammates all week as he took over Cronk's old No.7 jersey, with Robinson also impressed by his vocal showing in the new role.
"He's a really intelligent guy, he thinks for himself," Robinson said.
"And he continues to develop. So it's natural for him to develop on the field. The No.7 looked comfortable on his back."
Captain Jake Friend became cause for concern, when two head knocks saw his day finish early in a groggy state. It is hoped he has avoided any structural damage as a concussion would put him in doubt for a round two trip to Campbelltown.
Foran meanwhile copped both a battering and a barrage all afternoon.
The veteran playmaker was back in Sea Eagles colours for the first time since 2015 but found himself under constant assault alongside left edge defenders Brad Parker, Reuben Garrick and Jack Gosiewski.
By half-time Tedesco and Brett Morris both had two tries apiece, the former taking just four minutes to pinch a bomb out of Garrick's breadbasket with Tedesco's first touch of the ball.
Foran and Garrick did manage to strike back shortly after with a short-side play soon after, but from there the Tricolours big guns made short work of the visitors.
A Keary short ball for Sitili Tupouniua had him shrugging off Sea Eagles left and right for a 10-4 lead, before Tedesco's fleet feet added another in the 25th minute.
With a left then right-foot step Tedesco's was the third try down Manly's left side with the flying fullback's pace consistently putting him on Foran's outside.
Brett Morris intercepts a Foran pass to get his hat-trick
The same scenario played out for Morris's first try, Tedesco drawing Parker in as he beat Foran for pace before the veteran winger finished off the 40-metre play.
Morris' second for the afternoon had the result beyond doubt before the break, finishing off with a spin and flourish as Manly once more found themselves outnumbered on the open side.
The second stanza started with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves placed on report for striking out at Curtis Sironen, before Friend was in all-sorts when a tackle on Andrew Davey went wrong.
Utility Adam Keighran was another casualty with a dislocated wrist but the Roosters soon found their rhythm once more.
Tedesco's hat-trick came in the 52nd minute when Manly were caught short out wide again, a double knock-on soon after denying Tupouniua his own double.
Tedesco backs up on the inside to grab a hat-trick
While Foran was found out for the visitors in defence Daly Cherry-Evans also had an afternoon to forget off the boot, giving away three seven-tackle sets with kicks that ran long.
Morris piled the pain on again though with 17 minutes to play, latching onto a Foran pass and racing 80 metres for his third try of the afternoon.
Angus Crichton and Josh Morris both powered over late for rare tries away from the right as the Roosters made an early premiership statement on the back of Tedesco, Keary and co.
For Manly the heavy loss continued a run of round one outs that dates back to 2013.
Ominously too, another competition heavyweight looms in South Sydney next week while the Roosters will sweat on their hooking stocks ahead of a Sunday clash with Wests Tigers at Campbelltown.
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