These are the numbers that prove Canterbury’s Moses Mbye’s move to No.1 has given him a new lease on life.

Heading into the traditional NRL Good Friday showdown with South Sydney, Mbye has already had as much impact in the first three rounds as what he did last year.

Ahead of his tantalising duel with South Sydney fullback Alex Johnston, Mbye leads the league for linebreaks with six.

According to Fox Sports Stats, he broke the line the same number of times in his 23 games playing in the halves last year.

Watching the Bulldogs from afar the last several years, Pay always believed Mbye was a fullback and one of his first acts after taking over as coach from Des Hasler was to move him to the back.

“I thought he was a fullback looking from the outside in,” Pay said.

“He’s playing well the first two to three weeks, his confidence has grown each week.

“I said that (he would play fullback) to him when I first got here so he’s settled and happy with taking the challenge on.

“His confidence is growing each week.”

Mbye last week spearheaded the Dogs’ gripping win over Canterbury with two tries and a career-high 12 tackle busts.

He also sits third in the league for tackle busts with 20.

Having come into grade as a makeshift hooker and played every position in the backline, except wing, over his career, Mbye is reaping the benefits of the certainty that comes with job security.

His showdown with Johnston shapes as key as the two sides prepare to renew their rivalry which has simmered since Souths’ grand final win over the Bulldogs in 2014 and their infamously bad-tempered “Bad Friday” match the following year.

Asked if his side were embracing the occasion, Pay said: “That’s what we play the game for – if you’ve got pressure on you, you must be doing something okay.

“That’s what we’re looking for, we want to turn up tomorrow and put our best game of footy out there.”