Five-star Merritt helps sink woeful Eels

It was the day the real South Sydney stood up - the awakening of an outfit that has flattered to deceive, only to disappoint in the crunch. A massacre that showed Rusty’s Rabbitohs had the talent - and the killer instinct – to reach the finals for the first time since 2007. The latest conquest in a late-season crusade to join the NRL’s elite eight.

Tonight’s 50-6 thrashing of Parramatta – highlighted by a five-try haul to Nathan Merritt - showed that the Bunnies were going to brutal, not brittle, in their charge to September.

In what will be known in myrtle-and-cardinal circles as the Massacre of ANZ Stadium, the Redfern club ran in 10 tries to one and raised doubts about Parramatta’s chances of avoiding the wooden spoon.

With four rounds remaining, the Rabbitohs (22 points) moved into ninth spot above the Bulldogs and Panthers (10^th, 20 points).

Souths have to make up four points on the eighth-placed Wests Tigers (26 points) and face a challenging run home with a home clash against the fourth-placed Cowboys in between a visit to the Raiders and away games against the play-off Broncos and Knights.

However, on tonight’s form, it would be difficult to bet against them clawing their way into the finals, despite the absence of plenty of first-grade talent.

One unfortunate punter did, laying out a reported total of $40,000 in bets on the Eels, only for any hope of a collect to vanish by the 30-minute mark.

By then, Souths led 22-0 thanks to doubles from star centre Greg Inglis and Merritt.

Most of the damage had been done down Parramatta’s left edge, with Inglis, Queensland Origin teammate David Taylor and five-eighth John Sutton in ominous touch.

While Souths were devastating, the Eels were woeful, constantly dropping off tackles and conceding penalties as the score mounted.

Merritt then touched down for a first-half hatrick in the 31^st minute before Parramatta-bound halfback Chris Sandow scored in the 35^th minute for 34-0 at halftime.

Dylan Farrell and Parramatta’s Luke Burt exchanged tries in the opening ten minutes of the second stanza before Merritt scored his fourth of the evening in the 69^th minute.

Chris McQueen took the Bunnies to within touching distance of the half-century in the 75^th minute before Sandow punished his future employers with a from-the-sideline conversion for 50-6.

Merritt then became the first Rabbitoh to score five times in one game since the 1950s to complete the massacre.

The winger-cum-fullback is now the NRL’s leading tryscorer, eclipsing the Bulldogs’ Ben Barber.

"It was a great performance by the whole team," Merritt told Fox Sports after his historic haul.

"It's a great achievement for me personally, probably something I will look back on more when I've retired.

"Right now I'm just enjoying running around at fullback."