South Sydney can lay claim to being the NRL's form team at the right time of the season after putting on their most ruthless performance of the year against Parramatta.
Souths put the competition on notice with their 26-0 win, with star fullback Latrell Mitchell warning top-of-the-table rivals the Rabbitohs were now coming for them.
A top-four spot is still not out of the question with three weeks until finals, however that would require results going in the Bunnies' favour over the coming weeks.
But regardless, there is little doubt that last year's grand finalists are one of the form teams in the competition heading towards September.
Since the NRL's representative weekend in June, the Souths have gone 6-1 in a record matched by only Cronulla and North Queensland.
The Bunnies have averaged 32 points a game in that time, the most of any team in the competition.
But this has not been at a defensive cost, only Cronulla have conceded less than the Rabbitohs' 15.86 points per game over the same period.
The Rabbitohs' revival has coincided with Mitchell's return from a hamstring injury, with the Souths fullback now clearly back to his damaging best.
The club's form is a far cry from the way in which they started the year, losing six of their first 11 games with a new coach in Jason Demetriou and no Adam Reynolds.
Demetriou refused to panic, sticking solid with selections as the Rabbitohs' attack finally clicked and Cody Walker began to shine again.
"I had a plan that I thought there was a journey we had to go on," Demetriou said.
"I was under no illusions of how tough the start to he season was going to be.
"We had a shocking preseason, off the back of extended time off because of [previously] being in the bubble.
"And then not starting until the back end of January because of COVID.
"But I sort of knew that the season was going to grow on us."
Demetriou however acknowledged the spotlight was burning,
Souths succumbed to the worst completion rate in the competition over the first half of the season as they struggled to find their groove before the recent run.
"We were we were under pressure. But every day I just kept waking up and reminding myself of what's in that changing room," he said.
"And that's a very talented footy team and a group of men that care about their club and their teammates.
"And as long as we stuck at that we were able to get through it.
"Our high-performance team and medical teams done a great job to get our key players on the field and fit and looking good at the right time."
The Rabbitohs should also get Campbell Graham and Lachlan Ilias back from injury against Penrith, while Tom Burgess returns from suspension.
© AAP 2022
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