South Sydney may have one of the stingiest defences in the league, but they're fast earning a reputation as the rapid-fire Rabbits when it comes to putting points on opposing sides.
The Bunnies have made an impressive run up the competition ladder in recent weeks on the back of four wins from their past five starts, in which they've scored 20 tries in victories over the Dragons, Sharks, Titans and Broncos.
And each of those wins have been built on an ability to make hay in the briefest periods of sunshine, with their first three tries against the Dragons last Monday night blowing out a 0-0 deadlock after 22 minutes to an 18-0 advantage in just 11 minutes, before two more tries in four minutes midway through the second half put a wrap on the comfortable 29-10 win.
Against the Sharks it was two tries between the 55th and 62nd minutes that sealed the deal, while the wins north of the border over the Titans and Broncos were founded on hare-footed starts from Michael Maguire's men, with four and three tries within the first 15 minutes respectively.
Offensive general Adam Reynolds says the Rabbitohs' ability to land a flurry of try-scoring punches is not something that's focused on specifically at Redfern, but rather that it stems from the simplest of rugby league adages: holding onto the pill.
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"It's when we control the ball, that's when we get a roll-on," says Reynolds.
"When we turn it over we can't score points, but when we give ourselves a chance down the other end we're usually coming up with points.
"[Our attack's] something we've been working on at training.
"It's not as crisp as we'd like it to be but it's something we're working hard on. Things are falling into place and it's starting to come."
Ahead of this week's clash with the Warriors in Perth, the Rabbitohs are well aware the New Zealand-based side is one outfit they do not want to get into a point-scoring shoot-out with. The Warriors have racked up 270 points in their 12 games this year, making them the competition's second most potent attacking side alongside the Roosters in averaging 22.5 points a game.
Key to the Warriors' offensive prowess has been the form of England international Sam Tomkins, who after a slow start to his NRL career has now found his feet with 10 line break assists (equal fourth best in the competition) and 46 tackle breaks (seventh best) highlighting his contribution as he chimes into the Warriors' backline. Fellow British import Sam Burgess says he looking forward to lining up against his countryman for the first time at NRL level.
“He’s a great kid Sammy,” says Burgess. “I’m good mates with him off the field, he’s a great competitor – I saw a good little exchange between him and James Graham a couple of weeks ago, so I don’t think I’ll take him on. He looked pretty tough against James Graham.”
I'm happy for Sammy, he copped a bit of criticism, a bit of flack [when he first arrived in the NRL] but he's in some form and we're certainly aware of what he can bring to their team and we'll have to do our homework on him this week."
