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The South Sydney Rabbitohs have condemned the St George Illawarra Dragons to seven years running without a Charity Shield victory, taking the honours by 12 points on Saturday night.
While both teams will be concerned by elements of the game, the Rabbitohs were the better side by a considerable distance, which may be even more worrying for the Dragons, given there was no Adam Reynolds or Greg Inglis as they race the clock to be fit for Round 1 of the NRL season.
Their depth was on full display though, with Corey Allen scoring a hat-trick for the club, while Connor Tracey was excellent in the halves.
The Rabbitohs wasted no time in getting on the board, racking up the first two tries of the game without any real issues from a Dragons defence which seemed unstructured and like it was struggling with new personnel and positions.
Explosive winger Campbell Graham was the first on the scoreboard in the third minute of the contest, before Allen helped to make the score 12-0 just six minutes later.
From there though, the Dragons began their fightback as the first half continued to deliver plenty of points.
The new combination in the spine of Gareth Widdop, Corey Norman and Ben Hunt in the halves, and Cameron McInnes at hooker, got the Dragons into the lead by halftime, with three tries.
Zac Lomax had one, while Tim Lafai scored a couple. They were helped by a string of penalties, with only a try to Allen in the middle breaking it all up.
The Dragons had the lead 18-16 at halftime, but tries to Allan, Cameron Murray and Cody Walker within ten minutes of halftime allowed South Sydney to kick away with the game, building to a position where they would never be caught by the Red V.
The Rabbitohs start their NRL season against the Sydney Roosters at the Cricket Ground, while the Dragons travel to Townsville to play the North Queensland Cowboys.
St George Illawarra Dragons 24
South Sydney Rabbitohs 36