South Sydney have made a resounding statement to the rest of the competition, scoring 60 points in a 38-point demolition of the Warriors on the Sunshine Coast.
Despite the final score being the blowout it was, the Warriors were the ones who got on the board first, with Cody Walker throwing a pass to the ground that was promptly picked up by Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who scored his first try as a Warrior.
The possibility of the upset began it's slow and painful death when Reece Walsh kicked out on the full at the end of the very next set. Souths took full advantage of their first attacking opportunity, with Damien Cook doing some deft work from dummy half to put Tom Burgess over the line.
Walsh's horror run continued when he kicked off out on the full and the Rabbitohs didn't decline the second invitation, going to the right through Cody Walker, who got the pass to Paulo right and set him up for the try.
Souths were making metres at will at this point, rolling up the field to get right back into position near the try-line. Damien Cook again set up Tom Burgess for a try. It was the English prop's second career double.
The Warriors began to build some ascendency, however Walsh's kick went dead, gifting Souths seven tackles. In the ensuing set, Latrell Mitchell got a miracle offload away to Cam Murray, who dived over and made the score 22-6 in the 28th minute.
It then became a real demolition, with Souths travelling 90 metres in the set off the kickoff. The Warriors played at the ball after an Adam Reynolds offload, but Souths then took possession with a fresh set of 6. They only needed one, with Murray scampering across field before turning it inside for Cody Walker, who scored the try.
Souths again went up the field and scored in the next set, with Reynolds holding up a pass for a rampaging Jaydn Su'A. The score was 34-6 after 33 minutes.
Despite this, the Warriors went into the break with a fair bit of momentum. Kodi Nikorima put Adam Pompey through a hole. He was able to link up with Townsend, who then passed it to Montoya, who was able to control the ball and ground it over the line, making it a 24 point game.
It was the Warriors turn to go the length after the kickoff, with Nikorima again throwing a pass to get his outside back into space. This time it was Watene-Zelezniak, and he threw the pass back inside to Nikorima, who scored to give the Warriors a tiny bit of life and slim the deficit to 18.
This hope was extinguished 2 minutes into the second half, when Jaydn Su'A ran over the top of 3 Warriors defenders to score his second try.
The game became an arm wrestle of sorts for the next 10 minutes, but Souths soon got themselves into the red zone and from there it was a formality as they spread it left to Mansour, who scored his first try since Round 11. He scored another 2 minutes later in similar fashion to bring up 50 points for the Rabbitohs.
Chad Townsend showed some skill to put in a kick against the grain into open space that was chased by Reece Walsh, who got to the ball with no Rabbitoh defender within cooee. The score was 50-22.
Keaon Koloamatangi and Latrell Mitchell both powered their way over in the shadows of full time to get the South Sydney side to 60 points.
Next week, Souths take on the Dragons in Rockhampton, while the Warriors will play the Tigers at Suncorp.