It could have been interpreted as a panicked response to a first NRL defeat in six matches when South Sydney's team to play Gold Coast was revealed before kick-off on Saturday evening.
Coach Michael Maguire had been ruthless on his players after just one off night against St George Illawarra, wielding the axe for the clash with the Titans at Skilled Park.
Justin Hunt, Andrew Everingham, Dave Tyrrell and Nathan Peats were banished from the line-up altogether while Roy Asotasi was dropped to the bench to make way for English import George Burgess, who would bookend the front-row with his older brother Sam.
Yet another Burgess, George's twin Tom, was on the bench as the trio of siblings ran riot over the Titans while two other newcomers - veteran winger Matt King and young gun Luke Keary - would also make a huge impact.
King, returning from a broken arm which had threatened to force him into retirement, was immense at both ends of the park for the relentless Rabbitohs, while Keary's late try-scoring double put the cap on a dominant 32-4 win.
Such strength in depth shows why Souths fans are daring to dream this year will be the one their 42-year wait for a premiership ends.
Maguire believes those axed after the Dragons loss have been taught a hard lesson and could find it tough to get back into the team.
"It was unfortunate on Monday and it allowed a few guys to get a few opportunities (on Saturday night) and they've definitely taken those," he said.
"It's about performance. We didn't live up to our standards on Monday night and that allowed a few changes to the team.
"We've shown that was handy for us (against the Titans), we've just got back it up on Saturday against the Cowboys."
Souths captain John Sutton, who made his 200th appearance for the club against the Titans, can hardly believe how many handy teammates he has around him.
And all this is without Greg Inglis, with the Queensland and Australia representative still recovering from a knee injury suffered in this year's State of Origin decider earlier this month.
"The twins and Sammy really stepped up for us tonight and got the go-forward," Sutton said.
"When Lukey came on he showed he can play at this level. He's got the class.
"It's good signs for us."
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