South Sydney have reinforced their status as NRL premiership favourites after defeating a brave Canterbury side 24-6 to rack up their ninth straight win.
The ladder leaders had heroes all over ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, with Adam Reynolds putting on a masterclass, Robert Jennings grabbing a hat-trick and Damien Cook brilliant as he backed up just three days after State of Origin III.
The Rabbitohs were scrappy in the opening 20 minutes as Angus Crichton blew a golden opportunity but they quickly recovered, with Reynolds' fingerprints all over Souths' best moments.
His towering spiral kicks caused the Dogs to hand over possession on several occasions, including in the lead-up to Jennings' first try.
Reynolds also scored one try and set up another as the Rabbitohs notched nine straight victories for the first time since 1989.
In a promising sign for Souths, on the seven previous occasions they won nine straight in a season, they went on to be crowned premiers six times.
"It's obviously very pleasing, I'm not going to lie about that," coach Anthony Seibold said.
"But I keep repeating myself - it's a next-job mentality.
"We're going to enjoy the win. It's really hard to do, winning a game in the NRL is really tough. I'm really proud of the guys, the way they've applied themselves so far.
"But we understand the next challenge is the next challenge."
Cook was outstanding in his 75 minutes and when he burst out of dummy-half to split the defensive line, the Rabbitohs ran 70m to score through Reynolds to make it 12-2 at halftime.
Reynolds was again in the thick of it when he deftly grubber-kicked for Jennings.
Jennings' third try in the 72nd put the icing on the cake and took him to 16 tries from 15 games this year, provisionally moving him into top spot on the league's try-scoring list.
Canterbury's only four-pointer came when Will Hopoate popped a back-handed basketball pass to Reimis Smith.
However, the 15th-placed Dogs were gallant following last week's heart-breaking loss to Canberra.
They were held up on three occasions and a desperate strip from Sam Burgess on Jeremy Marshall-King denied them with 14 minutes remaining.
"Souths took their opportunities. We missed out on ours," Dogs coach Dean Pay said.
"I thought that was the difference in the game.
"We had the run of the play and Jeremy had the ball knocked out of his hands - (it could have) gone back to 18-12 then.
"We just can't take a trick at the moment.
"I'm really proud of the boys, they keep turning up for one another. Their attitude towards the club, themselves, the fans, the members, they're trying their arses off for them."
