Smith scored two tries and kicked seven goals to chalk up 22 individual points as he won the Ashton-Collier Medal and piloted the Roosters (3-5) to victory in front of an Anzac Day crowd of 41,021 at Allianz Stadium on Friday.
The five-eighth even spent time in the sin bin for a high tackle on Lachlan Ilias but that was the sole blemish on arguably the most-impressive display of his 36-game NRL career.
"His positioning was in the right spot, and you can see he has got really great vision," said Roosters coach Trent Robinson.
"When he plays like that, he sees a lot.
"To handle 10 minutes (in the bin) and then come back on and continue that was really nice."
Like his side, Smith's performances have been up and down to start 2025.
And at a time when the Roosters have been consistently linked to bringing outgoing Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans to the club, Smith could have been forgiven for feeling like he was on borrowed time.
But the 22-year-old's performance will give Robinson hope that along with Sam Walker, who is set to return from knee surgery in the next six weeks, Smith can be part of a long-term halves combination for the Bondi club.Â
The pressure was on Robinson's men heading into Friday's game where a loss would have sent the Roosters to the bottom of the NRL ladder for the first time since 2016.
But they hit the ground running when Smith scored in the third minute.
He dug into the line to create a right-to-left spread and then backed up Daniel Tupou on the inside to receive the winger's flick pass and cross.
The Dragons hit back five minutes later when Val Holmes jolted the ball loose from James Tedesco and winger Sione Finau raced 80m to score.
But that was about as good as it got for Shane Flanagan's side in the first half as Mark Nawaqanitawase powered over to push the Roosters further ahead.
After converting Nawaqanitawase's try, Smith added a penalty goal and then grabbed his second when he scooped up a loose ball and dummied past Clint Gutherson to give his side a 20-6 halftime lead.
"The first half cooked us ... We had just 29 per cent of possession," said Dragons coach Flanagan.
"I could tell at halftime we were looking for answers and we were out on our feet."
Smith's dream afternoon hit a snare soon after the break when he was sin-binned for a high shot on Dragons halfback Ilias.
Smith's 10-minute absence did nothing to slow the Roosters down with bench forward Blake Steep tricking Gutherson with an identical dummy.
Kyle Flanagan scored for the Dragons just before Smith returned but the Roosters No.6 didn't miss a beat, setting up Tedesco straight after coming back on to the field.
The Roosters fullback added his second and set up halfback Hugo Savala in the final five minutes.
