Brad Fittler started it, calling him the Smooth Operator as if he were watching a looping clip of Sade herself.
Phil Gould was the next, pondering what Reece Robinson was thinking about as he stared at the goal posts and then asking someone to check the "ice man" for a pulse.
Even the conservative Peter Sterling got in on the act too, suggesting the Eels winger would struggle with a shot clock, before Tim Gilbert threw his two cents in by describing Robinson's pre-goal kicking gaze as "haunting" and "hypnotising".
"Put some music behind it and it'd be pretty scary," Gilbert said.
To see Reece Robinson's full player profile visit parraeels.com.au
By the time the entire Channel Nine commentary team had dissected Robinson's goal-kicking routine – he finished with seven attempts on the night so they had plenty of turns – they were begging him not to change it.
"We've got plenty of time to talk here, as Reece stares down the uprights," Gould said, taking us through Robinson's sixth attempt at goal.
"Don't change it mate, you're kicking like a demon. He's in his trance... back to the real world. Don't change it."
The social sphere wasn't going to let Robinson stare into the western Sydney night without having a little bit of fun with him too. You could just imagine the damage they could've done if Piggy Riddell or Rocket Wishart lasted long enough in the game to tee off in the social age.
Reece Robinson doesn't blink when he takes conversions and its starting to terrify me
— Random Footy Facts (@footyfacts37) March 6, 2015Just about every rugby league socialite worth their 140 characters wanted to chime in on Parramatta's latest marksman, and even the man himself couldn't help but add to the mystery.
Asked what he was thinking about as he looked far beyond the uprights, he half-joked: "I can't really say."
"Nah, nothing rude," he quickly corrected.
"Just trying to stick to the routine: just stay relaxed."
The former Canberran hadn't done much goal kicking before – he had nailed just three from eight over his previous six seasons in the NRL. He had worked with decorated sharpshooter Daryl Halligan at the Raiders before Eels legend Luke Burt took him through his paces at Parramatta over the summer.
But neither of them had much input in what Robinson said was a new routine for him this year.
"I had a few people ask me 'what's going on there?', but it's something I only just started doing," he said.
"You change things over the years, but yeah you've always got to check out the posts. I don't know why, but everyone checks out the posts these days. It all comes down to concentration."
Was he thinking about the wind? The trajectory? What dessert he was going to have on the way home that night?
"A lot of people, like I said, a lot of friends, were asking what I was thinking about," Robinson added.
And his reply?
"Not much. Sometimes a lot of people get pressured and they think about it too much. But just take your mind off it and stay relaxed."
After the Eels winger had nailed five from five in the club's final trial match against Penrith, coach Brad Arthur said he would decide on whether to wrestle the goal kicking duties off regular shooter Chris Sandow in order to lessen the burden on his halfback.
Teammate Nathan Peats said he wasn't aware of the handover until he saw the re-born playmaker shouting instructions at the team after the first try.
"I didn't even know. He's been practicing, but when we scored the first try Chrissy was in the huddle at halfway. I didn't realise until then that Chrissy wasn't kicking. I thought Reecey was just practicing as a back up," Peats said.
"Obviously he's taken over the role now. [And] as long as he keeps kicking them, he can do any technique he wants."
