South Sydney coach John Lang wasted little time in claiming premiers St George Illawarra were again the NRL's yardstick after watching the Dragons dismantle his Rabbitohs 32-10 in Sunday night's Charity Shield clash at ANZ Stadium.
The Dragons showed little hint of a premiership hangover as they dusted off the cobwebs and the Bunnies in a clinical display, a slick performance made more meritorious considering it was achieved with the likes of skipper Ben Hornby, Jamie Soward and hooker Dean Young all sitting on the sidelines.
Souths too were without big guns Greg Inglis, Sam Burgess and Dave Taylor - but Lang was left under no illusions as to how tough taking down the Dragons would be in 2011.
"They again showed why they've been so consistent over the last two years ... they're going to take a lot of beating every time they go out there," Lang said of the Dragons.
"They set a standard for the sides that want to do well.
"For consistency they are clearly ahead of the field.
"They were the minor premiers two years in a row and went on to win the premiership last year. You can see the way their good players play.
"They're tough pros, they play with confidence, they play with drive and energy ... they set a high standard for themselves and everybody else."
The performance would have given Dragons coach Wayne Bennett - not at the game after coaching the NRL All Stars on the Gold Coast on Saturday night - food for thought as he settled on his squad for the World Club Challenge clash against Super League champions Wigan later this month.
Bronx Goodwin made the most of an opportunity at fullback following Darius Boyd's shift to five-eighth with two tries in a 16-point haul - while unheralded backrower Jack Bosden may have booked himself a seat on the plane for the DW Stadium clash on February 27 with a barnstorming display.
"It is hard (trying to break into the side) but everyone has to start somewhere - I've got good teachers, they're really good players, good people to learn from," former Cronulla junior Bosden said.
"There is (an opportunity) ... but in saying that there's still another four or five first graders that were playing Premier League last year, we've got a lot of depth in the forward pack so it's going to be a tough fight."
Souths looked like they were up for the fight when Kane Morgan went over early, but the Dragons' first foray into South Sydney's 20 metre zone reaped instant rewards after Bosden broke through some woeful defence to put Goodwin away for his first.
Showing it was no fluke, Bosden ran over the top of Ben Lowe a second time to make it 12-4 after George Burgess helped push his initial attempt at scoring onto the tryline.
Goodwin's second from a delicately worked set play had the Dragons up 18-4 at the break, and while the Bunnies showed a glimmer of hope when Dylan Farrell pounced on a Chris Sandow kick just after the restart, two tries in as many minutes to Boyd and Peni Tagive pushed the Dragons out again.
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