Sydney's big wet evaporated but the deluge continued at ANZ Stadium as the New Zealand Warriors practically walked on water to enhance their National Rugby League (NRL) title aspirations by drubbing South Sydney 48-16 today.
The Warriors made the perfect start to the 20th round encounter against a Rabbitohs side in danger of missing the post-season and rallied from a minor fadeout either side of the break to inflict Souths' heaviest defeat of the season.
A sublime and ruthless offensive performance allowed the Warriors to protect sixth place by halftime of a contest that was initially feared to be disrupted by Sydney's wettest week for more than 60 years.
But the weather cleared before last night's Tri-Nations rugby opener between the Wallabies and Springboks, allowing the Warriors to express themselves on a firm surface.
Manu Vatuvei was the main beneficiary as he put an injury-ravaged season behind him with three of the nine tries while Joel Moon opened his 2011 account with a double and debutant Pita Godinet celebrated his call-up when he dummied over in the final minute.
The Warriors conjured up four converted tries inside the opening half hour, a stunning sequence of 60 unanswered points after they piled on 36 against the Canterbury Bulldogs last weekend.
An accurate cross kick by five-eighth James Maloney opened the floodgates in the fourth minute after Chris McQueen lost his footing and wing Bill Tupou displayed great awareness to force the ball millimetres inside the dead ball line.
In an ominous sign for a muddling Souths, their first concerted attack ended with them trooping 90m to their own goalposts after Kiwis hooker Issac Luke's pass was intercepted by Shaun Johnson.
Greg Inglis tracked back to push the halfback wide although Maloney still slotted the extras.
Vatuvei touched down in the same corner 6min later following a repeat set and excellent work from Moon, who squeezed outside Chris Sandow and offloaded to the Kiwis wing despite being sandwiched by two defenders.
Maloney again made light of the awkward angle and earned his first easy attempt of the day when he ran the ideal line off Feleti Mateo, who marked his arrival from the interchange bench with a telling bust with his first touch off an inside ball from Aaron Heremaia.
Facing a 0-24 deficit and with Souths' usual defensive frailties around the ruck evident, the contest was reminiscent of the Warriors' 66-0 blitz against Souths at the same venue in 2006.
However, centre Dylan Farrell finally broke the duck when he put through a hole by Luke, who had earlier milked a fortunate penalty when clattering into Jacob Lillyman.
Nathan Merritt was also denied by a Heremaia trysaver in the final minute and Souths maintained their momentum when McQueen atoned for his lapse to outleap Tupou and trim the margin to 14.
But the Warriors regained the initiative in trademark fashion as Mateo and Maloney handled twice in a 98m breakout that culminated in Moon's first try of the season.
The centre then doubled his tally when Kevin Locke batted back a Maloney bomb to his arms for a stroll over.
Farrell completed his double when a Merritt kick bounced fortuitously but the Warriors brushed aside the setback with Maloney inevitably playing a pivotal role.
He directed two cross kicks for Vatuvei to collect and force in the 67th and 70th minutes, the catalyst for Rabbitohs fans to exit, then Godinet -- a late replacement when Lance Hohaia was ruled out due to a knee injury -- skipped over and was mobbed by his new teammates.
The Warriors host the 14th-placed Canberra Raiders next Sunday in Auckland while Souths try and keep their season alive against premiers St George Illawarra, also on Sunday in Wollongong.