The St. George Illawarra Dragons defeated the Penrith Panthers 38-10 at WIN Stadium, Wollongong in the NRL on Friday.
The Dragons, with a depleted team due to Origin selection, dominated the affair, scoring seven tries to the Panthers' two.
Five-eighth Jamie Soward created the opening try on 12 minutes for St. George, when his cross-field kick was turned into a score by Beau Scott.
Another Soward kick saw Ben Hornby leap and collect to add the Dragons' second, before Wade Graham was set up by Luke Walsh to leave the Panthers trailing 12-6 at half-time.
Wendell Sailor ran over Penrith defender Lachlan Coote soon after the interval to extend his side's lead, though stand-in skipper Frank Pritchard hit back for the Panthers 11 minutes later.
However, that was to be Penrith's only score of the second half, as Sailor added his second in the 63rd minute and Michael Lett then scored his first try of the season.
Soward and Nick Emmit both got on the score-sheet in the latter stages to seal a convincing win which lifts the Dragons into top spot in the NRL, having played a game more than the second-placed Broncos and two more the Bulldogs, who are third, two points behind the two leaders.