NRL: Rampant Rabbits rout Newcastle

The Rabbitohs' Kiwi rake Issac Luke also starred for South Sydney in a man-of-the-match effort. Photo / Getty Images

An expansive South Sydney made light work of a poor Newcastle at Barlow Park in Cairns yesterday to cement second on the NRL ladder.

It was departing coach Wayne Bennett's heaviest loss in three seasons at the Knights. His previous biggest loss with the club was a 32-0 shutout against Manly last season. The only other time his Knights had conceded 50 points was their 50-24 hiding by the Broncos, where Bennett is returning, in 2012.

Rookie winger Alex Johnston scored a hat-trick of tries in the Rabbitohs' biggest win over Newcastle.

With Sam Burgess and captain John Sutton sidelined and Greg Inglis captaining the side for the first time, the Rabbitohs laid on five first-half tries to race to a 26-0 lead at the break.

Kirisome Auva'a, Lote Tuqiri, Tom Burgess, Dylan Walker and Chris McQueen all crossed for four-pointers in an opening stanza dominated by the Rabbitohs, who took their round-21 home game to the North Queensland tourist city.

When Inglis scored just after the interval the match was over as a contest. In front of 11,570 fans, the Knights were a shadow of the side which produced one of the upsets of the season over premiers the Sydney Roosters last Friday night.

Missing Jarrod Mullen, James McManus, Akuila Uate and Darius Boyd, the Knights brought some respectability to the scoreline with efforts to Jake Mamo in the 50th minute in the steamy conditions at Barlow Park, and Adam Clydsdale two minutes later.

It was all Souths again after that, as Johnston scored three tries in 16 minutes before Auva'a crossed for his second as the Rabbitohs notched their half century.

The Rabbitohs' Kiwi rake Issac Luke also starred for South Sydney in a man-of-the-match effort.

The victory puts the Rabbitohs behind premiership frontrunners Manly, and equal with Penrith but ahead on for-and-against.

Souths face the Sea Eagles in a top-of-the-table clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday night.

The loss leaves the Knights two points ahead of last-placed Cronulla.

Souths 50
Knights10

- AAP