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Alex Johnston, Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell combined for all six of South Sydney's tries in their 32-24 comeback win over St George Illawarra.
Indigenous stars Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell have spearheaded South Sydney to an entertaining 32-24 NRL comeback triumph over St George Illawarra.
In the first game of the league's annual indigenous round, Walker, Mitchell and Alex Johnston combined for all six of the Rabbitohs' tries in Kogarah.
Johnston nabbed three of them, two by long-range intercepts.
"For 60 minutes tonight we absolutely nailed it. All the indigenous boys scored the points," Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett said.
"If you've got a horse who's got self-interest, you put your money on them. There was a bit of self-interest out there tonight.
"They scored all our points, which is pretty rare and probably unique in the game. They were all outstanding, each one of them."
The victory was soured by a stinger issue for star halfback Adam Reynolds, who was substituted in the 12th minute and failed to return.
His exit was compounded by the Dragons racing out to a 16-0 lead after as many minutes on Thursday, led by fullback Matt Dufty.
However the Rabbitohs avoided a third straight loss and moved back into the top eight by cobbling together arguably their best hour of football this year.
Walker was the architect, scoring or having a hand in four tries, while Mitchell, in his first game back from suspension, and Johnston, added the finishing touches.
For the Dragons, coach Paul McGregor was left to rue a third straight week of blowing early leads, with two of them ending in defeats.
"It's been consistent in our game the last three weeks. We've got off to really good leads," McGregor said post-game.
"To concede points in a row, our discipline and staying in our systems, when we're put under pressure, we know what to do, we're not doing what we know."
The crowd of 2719 thought they were in for a Dragons walkover early in the night.
Dufty finished off a 90-metre try that began with a heavy Tariq Sims shot on Reynolds that forced a loose ball, and a loose nerve down the halfback's shoulder.
A Dufty cutout for Euan Aitken five minutes later doubled the lead, before the pair linked up again soon after for the Dragons speedster to make it a three-try lead.
The Rabbitohs refused to lay down, kickstarting the comeback when Walker stepped past some lazy defence in the 20th minute.
Having destroyed the Rabbitohs right edge for all three of their tries, Dufty's lofted pass down their left was intercepted by Johnston for an 85-metre runaway effort.
Their third try was the best of the lot, with a Mitchell cutout releasing Johnston down the left, before he kicked back for Mitchell to level scores at the break.
Johnston and Tyson Frizell traded tries early in the second half, however consecutive Rabbitohs tries to Walker and Johnston sealed the victory.
Aitken also suffered a suspected hamstring injury late.
