Craig Smith was the captain and Lee Hookey and Mark Riddell grabbed doubles as the Dragons led the Cowboys 36-0 at halftime in round seven 2001.

It's how far back you have to go to find an opening stanza better than what Anthony Griffin's side turned on to lead the Rabbitohs 32-0 at WIN Stadium.

It was certainly the best half of Griffin's tenure, while the eventual 32-12 win remains in the top handful of victories since his arrival in Wollongong despite a scoreless second half.

It was just the fourth time the Dragons have posted 30 points in a half in the joint-venture's history.

Ben Hunt crossed after just four minutes and laid on two more four-pointers, with only the halftime siren halting a six-try onslaught that put the match to bed well before the break.

Mikaele Ravalawa grabbed a double, Zac Lomax had two try assists and Blake Lawrie ran for 124 metres... in the first half. Lawrie was so thirsty for work he even brought a pitch invader to a halt 13 minutes into the second half.

That it took Lawrie, and non-security Dragons club staff, to intervene before security could reach the offender will again bring security measures at NRL grounds into focus, but it was of little concern to the Red V faithful.

Likewise, their side not posting a second-half point did little to dampen their enthusiasm, though Griffin won't let it slip by unnoticed in the aftermath.

"We had obviously our best half football [this year]," Griffin said.

"In the NRL you never expect to lead 32-0 at halftime so I was surprised by the scoreline, but you could feel it [coming] all week the way we prepared. We were really disappointed with the way we played last week against the Cowboys so it was important we responded tonight.

"We didn't complete our first two [sets] but after that we really surged. I was really happy for them because Townsville's a hard road trip and it was a short turnaround for us but we prepared really well and played our best football. If you out yourself in that position sometimes you can get right on top which we did.

"The scoreline was a surprise but I thought for our club it was a really good response and really good message for ourselves about not worrying what anyone else thinks, we're capable of playing good football and winning games."

Security's limp effort on the pitch invader was only slightly less lacklustre than the Rabbitohs defence in the face of the first-half onslaught, with Jason Demetriou's side not hitting back until the 57^th minute.

Young No. 7 Lachlan Ilias dropped the ball with the opening touch of the game and didn't see out the half after being subbed by Demetriou.

It was a polarising move among commentators, but it had little impact on the result. The Rabbitohs ultimately went 12-0 in the second stanza, but would have needed two Latrell Mitchells to reel in a margin that was effectively out of reach before the break.

Being held to zip in the second half took some gloss off the Dragons performance, but Griffin wasn't desperate to find fault.

"Obviously there's some things you want to look at an a couple of those tries [conceded] we weren't happy with," Griffin said.

"I thought the first seven minutes without [sin-binned] Junior [Amone] we did a great job and that was the key. If they'd come straight out and got a try or two in that first 10 minutes of the second half you start legging them up into the game.

"I thought we scrambled really well but it was the old game of two halves. We had all the ball in the first half they had all the ball in the second half but we scrambled really well and hung in there and it was a good reward for it."

For the Dragons it ended a run of eight straight losses to the Rabbitohs and took their ledger on the season to 7-7 heading into another week off due to rep round next week.

It puts them into the top eight for the first time since round two ahead of another clash in Wollongong against the Raiders on the other side of rep round.

The home side struck first through Lomax, who seized on an awkward bounce of a Ben Hunt kick to put his skipper over for the opening try four minutes in.

The hosts extended their lead seven minutes later when Talatau Amone slipped through on a short side and found Ravalawa in support for his first try since round one and a 12-0 lead.

De Belin followed up three minutes later as the onslaught continued, Lomax missing for the first time off the tee to keep the score at 16-0.

Lomax delivered on his next touch four minutes later, putting Ravalawa over for his second with a trademark flick pass and nailing the sideline conversion for a 20-0 cushion .

Moses Suli was just as good on the other side, pulling down a Hunt bomb to score his side's fourth try and a 26-0 lead with Lomax's conversion.

They weren't done, with Cody Ramsey getting in the act from close range to keep the ledger ticking at 32-0 through 27 minutes.

Amone's sin-binning for dragging back Cody Walker without the ball was the only dampener on the opening half, with the Rabbitohs not hitting back until the 57^th minute when Damien Cook crossed from dummy-half.

It came after Ramsey spilled a towering bomb from Walker, with Cam Murray strolling across untouched under the posts to bring the margin back to 32-12 with 18 minutes left.

They pushed hard for a third try but the resistance ended when Hunt snaffled an intercept a metre out from his own line to deny Tom Burgess.

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