South Sydney winger Nathan Merritt moved three steps closer to a Rabbitohs’ tryscoring record which has stood since 1933 with his second hat-trick of the season in Sunday’s 44-32 win over Penrith.

The feat moved Merritt to 135 tries for the Rabbitohs with just 10 needed to eclipse Benny Wearing’s record of 144.

Wearing played on the wing for Souths from 1921-1933 and also represented Australia and NSW.

Merritt’s performance continued his early push to make his debut at State of Origin level for NSW with a perfect finisher’s effort on the end of the Rabbitohs’ backline in the 14-try thriller against the Panthers.

Fittingly, the tryscoring whiz crashed over for the final try of the day in the 79th minute to bring up his 143rd career four-pointer with the winger also playing for Cronulla for two seasons.

His hat-trick on Sunday matches his haul from the round one victory over the Sydney Roosters to give him six tries for the season make the top tryscorer in the competition after three rounds.