It's hard to see them going much further in the playoffs but at least Souths have broken their lengthy finals hex. Before last night's comprehensive victory the Rabbitohs hadn't won a finals match since 1986.
There were some nervous moments, as the Raiders closed to within 10 points early in the second half, but Souths finished with a flourish and a rare penalty try - awarded after Greg Inglis was taken out just before he received the ball - sealed the result in the 65th minute.
The Rabbitohs don't look genuine premiership contenders - they still default to erratic too often and David Taylor can be a 122kg liability - but they were more like their real selves yesterday.
Souths had looked like bunnies caught in the headlights a week earlier, under intense pressure from the Storm.
After taking over 70 minutes to find the tryline last week, they opened their account in the eighth minute last night through Adam Reynolds, after Isaac Luke cut open the Raiders defence up the middle. Luke's speed from dummy half electrified the Rabbitohs from the outset, making the decision to leave him out of the starting 13 last week even more mystifying.
