South Sydney's big guns have run riot and exposed a defensively brittle St George Illawarra to canter to a 42-24 Charity Shield win in Mudgee.
The temperature topped 36C at kick-off in regional NSW, but it was the Rabbitohs who were running hot.
Superstar quartet Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, Damien Cook and Cameron Murray turned on a suite of traditional Souths attacking plays to give their side a 26-0 lead at the break and put the 40th edition of the Charity Shield beyond doubt.
The Dragons have plenty to work on if they are going to challenge for the NRL top eight.
Their best spine combination is still a work in progress and Ben Hunt was their creative best at halfback.
Tyrell Sloan showed glimpses of attacking brilliance at fullback but dropped two easy bombs in the first half.
Moses Mbye and Jayden Sullivan interchanged at No.6 but neither put a stamp on the position.
Mbye looked better when he moved into hooker and Sullivan conjured up a nice try in the second half.
St George Illawarra dominated territory and possession in the first half but came up empty. They lacked ideas, speed and cohesion and made schoolboy errors with the ball.
The Rabbitohs on the other hand were slick and full of strike until they took their best players off for the last quarter of the match.
South Sydney skipper Murray is a master at running off hooker Cook and set up a rampaging Tom Burgess next to the sticks on the back of a pet play that opposition defences still struggle with.
Walker started and finished a beautifully executed trademark left-side play.
Cook set up Mitchell from the back of a scrum for another try.
Half Lachlan Ilias and Murray combined with an outside-inside play for Jai Arrow to score.
They made it look far too easy and that defensive frailty in the middle is a huge concern for the Dragons and their coach Anthony Griffin.
The display of South Sydney's 19-year-old prop Davvy Moale, who scored a rampaging try in the second half, was another boost for coach Jason Demetriou ahead of the round one NRL clash with Cronulla.
Cook said it was mostly a pleasing display as the Rabbitohs aim to win their first NRL title since 2014.
"This year everyone in our second tier has gone to another level and we've had a much better pre-season than last year," he told Fox League.
"I'd like to think what we saw today is a good stepping stone into round one and getting off to a good start. We don't want to be chasing our tail like we did last year to get into the finals."
