Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai have made an almost irresistible case to be NSW's halves pairing after leading Penrith to a 56-12 annihilation of South Sydney.
Local boy Matt Burton bagged a hat-trick and set up two tries on his old home ground in Dubbo, as the Panthers' left edge ran riot against the Rabbitohs.
The win made Penrith just the fifth side in history to start the season with 11 straight wins.
Billed as a State of Origin trial between Luai and incumbent Cody Walker, the Panthers No.6 easily claimed bagging rights as his combination with Cleary continues to flourish.
Luai put Penrith on the front foot when he turned a ball back inside for Burton to go through a hole in the fourth minute.
Cleary made the most of it two plays later, spinning through the line for the first of his two tries.
Luai's other main involvement came when he and Cleary combined to put Burton over for his first try, with the centre going over almost untouched from Luai's pass.
In comparison, Walker's afternoon summed up the Rabbitohs day.
He put a ball into touch in Souths' first real attacking chance from a scrum, threw another forward pass on attack and had Cleary run through him twice for tries.
The 31-year-old claimed a late second-half try himself when the game was done, stepping through the line as the Rabbitohs ran it on the last.
Sunday was meant to be Penrith's biggest test against a Souths side boosted by Latrell Mitchell's return.
But instead, the Rabbitohs looked as if they'd barely made it over the mountains, going behind 28-0 after 33 minutes.
Mitchell put on some nice touches in the second half, but with Penrith dominating territory and posession his chances were limited.
Burton had a field day after handing out 45 tickets to family and friends.
His second came when he leapt over former teammate Josh Mansour to take a Cleary kick, before his third also came when a Cleary bomb bounced.
The 21-year-old then capped off the party when Luai again put him into a hole and he turned back inside for Stephen Crichton to finish the job.
Isaah Yeo was also superb for Penrith as the NSW No.13 jersey now seemingly a race between he and Jake Trbojevic following Victor Radley's judiciary charges.
The Penrith lock poked his nose through from his and offloaded for one try from inside his own end.
The only concern for Penrith could be Kurt Capewell being put on report for a crusher tackle, but he would be free to play Origin I unless it is a grade-two charge.
