South Sydney's NRL season has hit its lowest ebb, flogged 32-12 by St George Illawarra with rookie halfback Lachlan Ilias hooked during a first-half mauling in Wollongong.
In easily their worst performances of the year, the Rabbitohs trailed 32-0 at half-time with Ilias benched by coach Jason Demetriou after just 28 minutes.
The first-half effort marked the Dragons' best opening 40 minutes since April 2001, with Ben Hunt superb in attack and Zac Lomax far improved on last week's loss to North Queensland.
Mikaele Ravalawa bagged a double on the right wing, while Talatau Amone had easily his best game in first grade.
The win lifted the Dragons back into the top eight for the first time since round two, helping them celebrate Andrew McCullough's 300th game in style.
And while Souths managed a minor fightback midway through the second half, it did little to paper over the cracks of a team that has suffered from inconsistency all year.
The Rabbitohs missed 21 tackles in the first half alone, as the Dragons kept pace with the clock for the majority of the opening 40.
The hosts' first try set the tone for the night, when Lomax hauled in a Hunt kick and stepped his way through the defence and put his half-back over.
Hunt had a hand in another try when he went to the line and put Jack de Belin through some poor defence, while he also kicked for Moses Suli to set up another four-pointer.
Fullback Cody Ramsey claimed a try in the first-half rush, while Ravalawa was the beneficiary of a Lomax flick pass when he twice brushed off Alex Johnston in the one play.
Even Cameron Murray was not immune to the defensive errors, beaten by Amone when the Dragons' five-eighth skipped around him and put Ravalawa across.
About the only thing more lacklustre than the Rabbitohs' defence was the stadium security, who allowed a pitch invader to stay on field for a full minute.
The man seemingly became bored as he jogged up and down the field, before he was eventually stopped by Dragons forward Blake Lawrie with security only walking to him.
The stoppage at least briefly sprung the Rabbitohs into action, with Damien Cook and Murray both crossing shortly after.
But their faint chance of a comeback was quickly killed off when Hunt intercept a ball on his own line, capping off a superb night for the Dally M leader.
The Rabbitohs will at least get Latrell Mitchell back in round 16 against Parramatta, but questions loom over Ilias' place in the team after his early benching.
Fixtures
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