The Canberra Raiders continued their dream season with a rampant 54-4 win over a hapless South Sydney Rabbitohs side at ANZ Stadium. The Green Machine ran in 10 tries to one on Sunday afternoon to jump the Cowboys and move into third place on the Telstra Premiership ladder.
Records tumble at the Olympic Stadium
With the Olympics set to start in just under a week, the Raiders and Rabbitohs got into the spirit of the Games with a couple of record-breaking achievements on Sunday afternoon.
The 50-point margin was Canberra's biggest win over the Rabbitohs, eclipsing their 48-0 victory at the Sydney Football Stadium back in 1990.
Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker became the first player in 2016 to pass 200 points for the season, and the 25-year-old looks set to better his 236-point haul from 12 months ago.
For the Rabbitohs, John Sutton crossed for NRL try number 50 in what was an otherwise tough day at the office for the 2014 premiers.
Raiders not setting the bar high for next week
Sitting pretty in third place on the Telstra Premiership with five straight wins, the Raiders could be excused for heading into next Saturday's clash against the Cronulla Sharks quietly optimistic about their chances.
Not according to Ricky Stuart, with the Raiders coach suggesting any improvement on their 40-16 loss at home in Round 7 would be considered a success.
"I'm not looking at where we'll be over the next two weeks, or learn about where we're at. I know where we're at," Stuart said.
"If we can keep within three to four tries of Cronulla next week [then] we've had a huge improvement. They dusted us up and bashed us around last game and beat us by about 40 or 50 points.
"They're a class team, they're going very well and they deserve to be where they are. As I say, if we can keep within those points, I think there's improvement there in us."
South Sydney's defence is becoming a real concern
The Rabbitohs' run of conceding 20 or more points in a game stretched to 13 on Sunday in what was their heaviest ever loss to the Green Machine.
For a club that was the league's defensive benchmark two years ago, things have rapidly declined, with the Bunnies boasting the second-worst record in the NRL.
It was also the first time they'd conceded 54 points since Round 24, 2010 when they were trounced by the Panthers at Pepper Stadium.
It was the Rabbitohs' biggest loss under coach Michael Maguire, and their worst defeat since going down 66-0 to the Warriors a decade ago.
Raiders' right edge the best in the business
If there were any doubts heading in to Sunday's match, they were quickly put to bed as Joey Leilua and Jordan Rapana confirmed their status as the most lethal combination in the competition.
Rapana ran for 133 metres, had three line breaks, scored two tries and set up two more, while his centre partner scored a try, had one assist and ran for a whopping 173 metres.
Between them they had 11 tackle breaks to consolidate their positions inside the NRL's top five, with Rapana recording his 100th bust of the season on Sunday.
Six of Canberra's tries were scored down the right edge, and while the early loss of South Sydney five-eighth Luke Keary caused a few positional changes, even the best defensive unit would have struggled to contain the pairing affectionately dubbed 'Leipana'.
Keary might have played his last game for Souths
The signs didn't look good for Luke Keary when he was forced from the field after just 10 minutes with a hamstring injury after pulling up lame while backing up a break from teammate Cody Walker.
South Sydney's No.6 immediately signalled to the sidelines that he was no good, bringing his afternoon to a premature end.
The 24-year-old has signed a two-year contract with the Roosters starting in 2017, raising questions as to whether Sunday's match was his last in South Sydney colours.
Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire said scans would determine the extent of the injury, but was hopeful that the injury wasn't season ending.
"He's possibly got a grade one or grade two hamstring."
