It's an all-too-familiar tale for St George Illawarra supporters in recent seasons.
They start the year with renewed hope, the team kicks off its premiership campaign strongly, establishes a position in the top eight and then fades from contention down the final stretch.
After spending five weeks in the top six mid-season, the Dragons' form has slumped as the season has progressed and they are now in the midst of a three-game losing streak after defeats to Manly and the Gold Coast preceded Sunday night's 50-14 shellacking at the hands of South Sydney.
The Dragons have coughed up eighth place on the Telstra Premiership ladder to the Raiders, their opponents next round - they have the same differential but Canberra are one rung higher as they have scored more points.
St George Illawarra will drop to 10th if the Titans, as expected, account for the Bulldogs in Monday night's first rescheduled clash.
Burns wins the race to a Hunt kick
Dragons coach Anthony Griffin was not hitting the panic button after the heavy loss to the Bunnies but time is running out for the Red V to climb out of their rut.
"It was just a combination of the opposition being really good and us, at times, we lost our way with the ball and at the end of our set we couldn't build any pressure on them," he said.
"Souths were very good and they were very clinical. Their spine and their forwards were really aggressive but I thought for 60 minutes there we were doing a reasonable job, particularly the first 30 minutes.
Burns offloads in traffic to release Sloan
"We were entitled to go ahead there just before half-time when we had a bit of ball down their end but it wasn't to be."
All but forward Josh Kerr and veteran utility back Gerard Beale have now served their one-game bans of the 12 players sanctioned for taking part in sacked prop Paul Vaughan's illegal gathering at his house a month ago.
Jack de Belin, Jack Bird, Josh McGuire and Blake Lawrie served their bans on Sunday for their part in the barbeque incident.
Griffin said with those players on deck he would be making changes for Friday's crucial clash with the Raiders on the Gold Coast.
However, he gave a vote of confidence to rookie backs Tyrell Sloan, Mat Feagai, Talatau Amone and Jayden Sullivan, who showed glimpses of their potential against much more experienced Rabbitohs opponents.
Both teams were forced to rejig their plans after the match originally set down for Rockhampton on Saturday afternoon was postponed more than 24 hours and switched to the Queensland capital.
Burns offloads in traffic to release Sloan
The Rabbitohs spent several hours on Saturday travelling to Rockhampton and back but St George Illawarra, who were told to stay at their Brisbane hotel before boarding the plane because the match may be postponed, played like they were the ones who had the more disrupted preparation.
"To be fair it was probably more disruptive for them [Souths]," Griffin said.
"They flew up and flew back and they had to drive to the airport and things like that."