South Sydney coach Ben Hornby hopes Jack Wighton can continue to produce in the club's ongoing surge up the NRL ladder after steering his side to their fifth win on the trot in the wet over Parramatta on Thursday.
Wighton crossed over twice in the 32-16 win, placing the Bunnies a game behind eighth-placed St George to start round 18 as their turnaround from a disastrous start to the 2024 season continues.
The club were pinned to the bottom of the ladder for all but three weeks until round thirteen before a shift in their fortunes coinciding with the Wiradjuri man and former Dally M winner's shift into the no.6 jumper to face the Eels in round 12.
It followed a rotation of halves pairings with Cody Walker to start the year.
Wighton scored Souths' second finishing off Jacob Gagai's break down the right sideline in the 33rd minute before putting the finishing touches on the win stepping past two defenders from 10 metres out in the dying stages.
The 31-year-old also had three offloads and eight tackles busts with ball in hand for the match.
Horny agreed it was probably Wighton's best display since the position change.
"The spine has been getting better as a group. It's been a bit of a work in progress; our attack, because we've been concentrating so hard on trying to get our (defence) right. Hopefully Jack can continue to grow, and Jack can continue to show what a great player is," Hornby said.
Souths' ability to score against had been a major talking point as the pressure built on previous coach Jason Demetriou before he was shown the door mid-season.
His replacement was also big on Latrell Mitchell's game.
On return from Origin duties, Mitchell went close to beating four Eels at the line to opening scoring before sending Gagai open for an early lead as well as a try-saving tackle on the break five minutes out from the break.
After the break, Mitchell capitalised on the slipping conditions to slide over under two defenders after going himself in the right corner before a second try-assist to Gagai to cement a strong margin 12 minutes from full time.
"I don't know if people really realise the impact he has on our defence when he's at fullback, because we're always talking about his attack," Hornby said post-match.
"He's doing a great job. And he showed today why he's our fullback, because he can pop up on both sides of field and set up ties and score them."
Cody Walker also got on the scoreboard with after backing up a flick pass to receive an offload under the sticks on the stroke of halftime to secure a 16-4 lead.
With it, the veteran brought up 400 career points.
Wighton's addition into five-eighth has pushed Walker out of his usual post into halfback across their winning run.
"He's put himself out for the team he's playing on the opposite side of the field, and he's doing a great job. I couldn't be happier how he's playing. And he's just showing what a great teammate he is," Hornby, a noted utility during his playing career, said.
With nine games remaining for the home-and-away season, the Rabbitohs' run home includes five matches against current top eight sides alongside 11th placed Newcastle, Canberra in 12th spot and two games with a struggling West Tigers outfit.
Hornby said he's only concerned with carrying on with recent form before thinking about a finals berth.
"I'm just focusing on the next game, because that's what's got us to here. So if we just keep focusing on the next game, we'll be fine. We've got good players. We're playing well now…I want the entire club, all the players, that's all our focus needs to be; next week," he said.
"We keep doing that, good things will happen."
