Here are seven of the biggest talking points from the South Sydney Rabbitohs' demolition of the Wests Tigers in the final round of the regular season.
1. Losing Streak Ends
For the first time this season the Rabbitohs found themselves with three losses in a row, but that ended on Thursday night with a comprehensive 51-10 victory against the Wests Tigers.
Despite the disadvantage of a short turnaround from their loss in Canberra, Souths put on a show with eight tries to two in their final regular season game.
After a month to forget, the side was back to their best just in time for the finals.
2. Saving The Best 'Til Last
Securing a final round win is always good, but to do it in such a dominant fashion is even better.
Not for the first time this season, the Rabbitohs created history on Thursday night as they earned their biggest final round victory since Round 14, 1939 against the North Sydney Bears in a 53-nil walloping.
This time around though, halfback Adam Reynolds scored a personal best 21 points, with a try and eight goals, helping the side to the second highest victory in Club history in a final round game, just pipping the 50-10 win in Round 18, 1951 against the Parramatta Eels.
Talk about saving your best 'til last.
3. One For The Record Books
Earlier this week we put out an article detailing the Five Biggest Wins vs Wests Tigers, which you can read here.
Ironically though, Thursday night's game actually leapfrogged four of those matches, only coming second to the Round 10, 2013 annihilation where Souths trounced the Tigers 54-10.
But whether it's by 41 points or just a single point, it's always a sweet victory against our rivals the Wests Tigers, who have become a team that has enjoyed disrupting our form in recent years.
4. Some Individual Feats
Just one week from the finals, plenty of players put in a statement for fans and opponents alike, and here are just a few that stood out.
In 69 minutes Greg Inglis ran for 165 metres (74 post contact) from fifteen runs, with one linebreak assist and one try assist.
Cameron Murray made a game-high and personal high of 191 running metres in just 55 minutes, while Robert Jennings scored his eighteenth try in his eighteenth appearance.
Adam Reynolds scored a personal tally of 21 points with eight goals, one field goal and a scintillating try, and George Burgess had a huge impact with 159 metres from just twelve hit-ups.
John Sutton wound back the clock with 173 metres, two linebreaks, two try assists, a linebreak assist and a try, and finally, Cody Walker put in a huge performance with a try, a linebreak, a try assist, three linebreak assists and two forced dropouts.
5. And They Ran, They Ran So Far Upfield
It was an immense team effort as eleven of the starting seventeen players ran for more than 100 metres against the Tigers, ten of whom ran for more than 150 metres.
The Red and Green also produced an incredible stat, recording the highest differential of running metres between two sides in a match since records began in 1999, with 2197 to the Tigers' 880.
Particularly strong performances included those from Cameron Murray (191m), Sam Burgess (189m), Alex Johnston (177m), Campbell Graham (176m) and John Sutton (173m).
Now that's worthy of a Forrest Gump reference!
6. Departing Players Get Deserving Send-Off
It was a fitting send off for the likes of Hymel Hunt, Richie Kennar, Angus Crichton and of course, Club favourite Jason Clark.
Lucky for them, it won't be their final opportunity to don the Red and Green, but there's no doubt that their teammates put in a special performance for them as well as Members and supporters on Thursday night.
And for the record – how good was Clarky's conversion?!
7. Full Strength Going Into Finals
Probably the biggest positive from the match is that the starting side is at full strength heading into the finals series, which is a luxury not many, if any, teams have.
The return of Robert Jennings - who scored his 18th try in his 18th appearance this year - and Sam Burgess confirming there are no problems with his hamstring means that the Rabbitohs will be able to field their strongest 1-13 coming into the finals.
Let's not also forget with at least an eight-day break between matches, things are boding very well for the upcoming finals for The Grand Old Club.
