South Sydney coach John Lang declared he'd put his house on a St George Illawarra premiership after the Dragons extinguished the Rabbitohs NRL rugby league finals hopes before they even got off the ground.
Canterbury's 30-24 defeat of Manly earlier on Sunday gave Souths a golden opportunity to sneak into eighth spot in the final match of the year if they could beat the Dragons by five points or more.
When St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennett announced he was resting key players Jamie Soward, Ben Hornby, Dean Young and Jeremy Smith for the match, it almost seemed as if a fairytale playoff berth was gift-wrapped for the Bunnies.
But a Ben Creagh hat-trick destroyed the Rabbitohs in the first half and the Dragons cruised to a comfortable 38-24 victory which gives the barely breathing Sea Eagles one last hope against the red-V at Kogarah next Sunday.
