Less than two years ago the Wests Tigers were the swashbuckling entertainers of the NRL and the side tipped for NRL premiership glory sooner rather than later.
But those memories seemed a lifetime ago on Friday night as a ruthless South Sydney outclassed, outmuscled and ultimately embarrassed the Tigers to cruise to a 54-10 win at ANZ Stadium with Greg Inglis scoring four of his side’s 10 tries in front of a crowd of 19,719.
It was a brilliant performance from the Rabbitohs, oozing with class, pace and power and worthy of a side sitting on top of the premiership ladder.
For the Tigers, whose former coach Tim Sheens – still on the payroll after his unceremonious axing last year – sat in the crowd in his guise as Kangaroos coach, it was a horrible night.
With star player Benji Marshall dumped to the bench by coach Mick Potter and seven top-line players on the sidelines injured, the joint-venture were feeble in defence and toothless in attack in the first half.
It was a tale of missed tackles and soft defending in the opening stanza as the Rabbitohs ran in seven tries to open up a 38-4 advantage, with Marshall entering the fray after 17 minutes.
Nathan Merritt opened the scoring before debutant Dylan Walker, Inglis, Beau Champion and Burgess brothers Sam and George went over the whitewash.
Inglis then raced 95 metres to add his second before the break just before Marika Koroibete bulldozed his way over in the corner to give the Tigers a rare moment to savour.
Potter’s side came out strongly after the break and looked to have scored through Curtis Sironen only for the video referee to rule out the try for obstruction.
That scare appeared to galvanise the hosts who went over again through Adam Reynolds.
Chris McQueen dislodged the ball from Aaron Woods’ grasp and Reynolds walked past a feeble attempt at tackle from Adam Blair and race 50 metres to touch down next to the posts.
The halfback then brought up the half-century mark when he converted Inglis’ hat-trick try just after the hour mark.
The Tigers were much improved in the final quarter as the Rabbitohs took their foot off the gas and their effort was rewarded when Liam Fulton went over from close range.
But Inglis had the last word diving full length to score his fourth try in the final seconds.