Four tries in 20 minutes after half-time has seen South Sydney rout St George Illawarra 34-18 at Kogarah on Thursday night.
The Dragons have now lost both their opening two fixtures to start the 2019 season.
St George Illawarra were always going to be up against it given the short five-day turnaround from their arduous slog in wet conditions against the Cowboys in Townsville in round one.
Already without Jack de Belin, the Dragons were also without star representative forward Tyson Frizell through injury, allowing Blake Lawrie to start at lock and Josh Kerr to make his NRL debut from the bench.
More than 10,000 fans turned up to Netstrata Jubilee Stadium for St George Illawarra's first of five clashes at Kogarah this season.
But the Dragons will need to regroup quickly as the 16-point loss to the Rabbitohs was their only home game in the first month of the season - with tricky trips to Brisbane and Newcastle on the horizon.
St George Illawarra's right side defence was torn to shreds in the second half as the Dragons gave up all the aggression and commitment that saw them leave the ground to a standing ovation at half-time.
It looked like it was going to be one of those nights for St George Illawarra when Tariq Sims produced a powerful run through the middle of the ruck only to drop the ball while stretching out to ground it after only three minutes.
It was only three minutes later that Souths made them pay. Damien Cook waltzed across field before finding young lock Cameron Murray on a straight run.
Murray went almost untouched between Lawrie and Sims on the halfway line before beating Gareth Widdop with a dummy to race through and score under the posts.
But the Dragons didn't allow the early slip to hit their confidence and were level after 10 minutes.
On the back of a Sam Burgess error, Widdop danced across field before finding Tim Lafai. The centre produced a powerful left foot step past Greg Inglis before his flick pass hit Jordan Pereira who scored out wide.
The Dragons took the lead midway through the half through Pereira who claimed his first NRL double.
Corey Norman threw a sublime, instinctive double cut out pass to Pereira, who picked the ball up almost off his boot laces. He then produced a strong fend on Dane Gagai to slide over in the corner.
A Widdop penalty goal on the half hour mark extended St George Illawarra's lead to 12-6 after James Graham's shoulder had been placed in an awkward position.
Debutant Kerr made an inauspicious start to his NRL career off the bench, twice gifting Souths field position. Firstly, he was penalised for a late hit on Adam Reynolds after the Souths halfback had kicked the ball. And secondly, the forward dropped the ball as the Dragons worked it away from their own line.
St George Illawarra showed excellent resilience on their own line to turn the Rabbitohs away to take their six-point lead to half-time.
But as good as they were in the first half, the Dragons were equally as poor to start the second as they leaked four tries in 20 minutes to turn a 12-6 advantage into a 28-12 deficit.
Sam Burgess had Souths level two minutes into the second half when he stretched out to score next to the posts.
Five minutes later the Rabbitohs were in front as Ben Hunt allowed Cody Walker to race through and score after an over-read in defence.
Braidon Burns extended the advantage when he somehow got on the end of a Reynolds attacking kick before Campbell Graham slid over out wide on the hour mark.
Sam Burgess scored his seventh career double with nine minutes to play to end any thoughts of an unlikely Dragons comeback before Lafai scored a late consolation.
Leader Scoreboard
South Sydney Rabbitohs 34 (Sam Burgess two, Cameron Murray, Cody Walker, Braidon Burns, Campbell Graham tries. Adam Reynolds five goals)
defeated
St George Illawarra Dragons 18 (Jordan Pereira two, Tim Lafai tries. Gareth Widdop three goals)
at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Crowd: 10,080
Leader man of the match: Adam Reynolds (Rabbitohs)
Dragons' next three: Broncos (away), Knights (away), Bulldogs (home - Kogarah)