St George Illawarra has claimed a 46-26 Charity Shield victory to leave South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett with more questions than answers as he attempts to save the Rabbitohs' season before it has begun.
The Rabbitohs went into the match on the back of news Cameron Murray had ruptured an Achilles tendon and Latrell Mitchell (hamstring injury) will sidelined for the first six weeks of the season.
But against the Dragons, Jamie Humphreys emerged as a beacon of light for the Rabbitohs on Saturday.
The 23-year-old halfback looks set to place major pressure on the Rabbitohs' key off-season recruit Lewis Dodd.
English number seven Dodd struggled for much of the first half at Mudgee's Glen Willow Oval and did not return in the second stanza.
Dodd was retrospectively sin-binned by the bunker — an initiative being trialled during the preseason challenge — for a first-half high shot on Dragons winger Sione Finau.
The former St Helens halfback was forced to watch on as Humphreys scored a four-pointer and registered two try assists to make a compelling case to partner Cody Walker.
With Humphreys pulling the strings, the Rabbitohs recovered from trailing 34-10 at half-time to cut the Dragons' lead to just eight points by the hour mark.
Eventually the Dragons clicked back into gear and Shane Flanagan's side secured just their second Charity Shield win in the last decade.
Finau will steal the headlines with a four-try display before going off with a concussion but all of Flanagan's main off-season recruits had valuable contributions.
Val Holmes and Clint Gutherson both had two try assists in a first-half rampage and Lachlan Ilias impressed against his former club.
Ilias, who was shown the door after the Rabbitohs signed Dodd last year and given a lifeline by Flanagan, crashed in for his side's third try of the afternoon and also set up Moses Suli in the second half.
The Rabbitohs face the Dolphins in their season-opening clash, while the Dragons host Canterbury.
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