Adam Reynolds ran himself into the record books one minute, the blooper reel the next, while the Tigers they at least ran out. But did little else.
Michael Maguire's mounted the bare minimum of resistance for the first 40 minutes at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday.
It made for 26 unanswered Rabbitohs points, Reynolds more guilty than most in leaving a try on the table by running dead in-goal as he planted the Steeden.
His blushes proved nothing compared to those of the Tigers.
A second-half flurry of consolation tries and the eventual 38-22 scoreline flattered the Tigers far more than they deserved, Maguire pulling no punches after yet another deflating defensive effort.
Casting back to a round 14, second-half capitulation to Parramatta of the same margin, and taking in the 66-16 Storm shellacking, the Tigers had conceded 118 points from their past four halves, or 160 minutes of football.
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The Tigers coach will now cast around, inside and outside the club, for not only reinforcements, but identity.
"It's sad to say that our start looked like a training run for Souths," he said.
"It was very disappointing to see us start like that.
"We've done a lot of work and I need to find men that are going to be accountable for what we're doing.
Bennett blast: Clubland must take more responsibility for product
"That's not acceptable for where we're going as a club."
A defensive shake-up, to slide rather than rush in, made not a lick of difference to the Tigers performance without the ball until the Rabbitohs put the cue in the rack, an ominous sign for Maguire.
He insists he is still the man to end their finals drought. The joint-venture now has a bye and two-week break to stew on that, and the question that has plagued the club across its 21-year history.
"We're still probably at the stage of 'what is a Wests Tigers player'? Maguire said of his ongoing roster rebuild.
"We've got to get into that winning mindset of clubs and that's what we're still working that out."
With veteran Rabbitohs halves Reynolds and Walker bidding for Blues call-ups, the Tigers couldn't have made it any easier for them to further their cause.
Walker helped himself to three try assists for the afternoon, while Reynolds handed back his own first half try having run right past a sprawling Luciano Leilua.
By that point Souths held a 16-0 lead and could afford to be frivolous.
Reynolds bombs an easy try
By half-time the Tigers were 26 in arrears, a similar margin to the April afternoon against the Cowboys when the Leichhardt faithful booed their side into the sheds.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, no fans were on hand inside the ground for this latest carve up.
The Tigers staffers enlisted to man the scoreboard returned after the break.
Not all the fans who stood on nearby balconies and roofs for a free vantage point bothered.
In a weekend where half the games were decided by more than 30 points and the NRL's latest six-again rules came under further scrutiny, Wayne Bennett turned the blowtorch elsewhere.
Johnston engages superman mode for his second
Tigers hierarchy may well have felt the heat.
"The management of clubs has a huge result on performances at the moment," Bennett fumed.
"Clubs have got to take a hell of a lot more responsibility than they are taking for the way the game is being played. It is as simple as that.
You can't keep Alex Johnston out of the tries for long
"It’s an easy blame to put the blame on the player because he’s not playing well. You’ve got to look deeper than that – it’s not the rules, the rules may be a part of it. Until clubs learn to manage themselves better, it’s not going to get better."
A second-half double to Adam Doueihi and late tries to Daine Laurie and David Nofoaluma did nothing considering the damage had already been in the first 40.
Time and again the Rabbitohs rolled either left or right and broke the line seemingly at will.
Nofoaluma intercepts a Walker pass
Wingers Taane Milne and Alex Johnston were among the early tryscorers and so was Walker, all making short work of flimsy Tigers efforts.
Johnston's first try had South Sydney up 16-0 after as many minutes.
Reynolds sideline nudge made for the nuggety No.7's 803rd in cardinal and myrtle, making him the most prolific goalkicker in Rabbitohs history as he went past Eric Simms.
He should have had another easy shot moments later, Reynolds' inexplicably overcooking his own jaunt past a sprawling Luciano Leilua.
While Reynolds could laugh off his clanger, Maguire's next team sheet could make for a rude shock as he searches for an answer to that question that has gone begging for more than a decade now.
"I’ll be definitely having a look at the team," Maguire said.
"I want to find the ones that are hungry to take the Wests Tigers forward."
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