Walker dazzles again as Bennett's Bunnies bury Seibold's Broncos
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Rugby league revenge is best served cold, but Cody Walker's red-hot Origin claims have left Brisbane with third degree burns in Wayne Bennett's first clash with the club that sacked him.
Five months to the day that the seven-time premiership winning coach was punted via voicemail, Bennett's South Sydney trounced the powerhouse he helped build with a 38-6 demolition at ANZ Stadium on Thursday.
It was Bennett who almost lured Walker to Red Hill twice in 2016, only for the 29-year-old to stay put at Redfern, Bennett eventually coming to him.
Walker's two first half tries set in motion a night capped a night of heavy emotion for the Blues five-eighth contender.
Match: Rabbitohs v Broncos
Round 8 -
home Team
Rabbitohs
2nd Position
away Team
Broncos
13th Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
The six tries-to-one thumping came on the anniversary of his mother's sudden death from a heart attack, while the Rabbitohs also paid tribute to retiring champion Greg Inglis.
Walker did both pointing to the sky after his first try and doing a goanna celebration with his second, which was Inlgis' signature move after scoring a try.
The Broncos and coach Anthony Seibold return north with their sixth loss in two months.
Darius Boyd's 300th game now marks a looming crisis point for Queensland's powerhouse club with a third of the season gone and the Rabbitohs illustrating just how far off the pace the Broncos are.
Walker breaks out the goanna after second try
It was Walker who set it up with his two tries in three minutes.
The first from a fortuitous grubber by Alex Johnston, Boyd perplexed by the bouncing ball and Walker pouncing for the opening try.
A Corey Oates mistake in the play-the-ball gave Souths that first sniff, while Jamayne Isaako's follow-up punt over the dead ball line kept the red carpet rolled out.
Walker duly waltzed right down it, piling more pressure on sky blue incumbents James Maloney and Nathan Cleary a month out from Origin I.
Kicking on the last with Souths' fifth-play option scrambled, Walker again got the bounce, his ninth try of the season.
When Brisbane had their crack, the Steeden just wasn't breaking their way. A left-side shift that was half a step off-kilter saw Oates shoved into touch with the try line calling.
When they came again Anthony Milford created an overlap and looked to exploit it. He only found Adam Reynolds, who finished his 70-metre intercept with another goanna and the conversion too for 18-0.
A minute from halftime Walker piloted Kyle Turner over to maintain the rage.
Oates came infield afterwards to hit a Milford short ball for Brisbane's first points, a rare highlight among five mistakes from the hulking winger.
Rookie Broncos half Tom Dearden gave plenty, and copped just as much too from Souths' big men, while his side wore an 8-3 penalty count that did them no favours among self-inflicted woes.
With the contest meandering down, Sam Burgess bagged a try to go with his 156 metres across 70 minutes.
John Sutton did the same from close range, his first try in his 16th season, and did a third goanna for the night - the end result equalling the Rabbitohs biggest win over Brisbane.
