A first half point-scoring blitz has paved the way for South Sydney's 38-16 thrashing of a disappointing Canterbury at ANZ Stadium on Easter Monday night.

The Rabbitohs trailed 6-0 after two minutes before cutting loose to post five tries and 26 unanswered points in just 30 minutes.

There was no way back for the Bulldogs, who were a shadow of the side which thrashed the Roosters just eight days previously.

Souths had plenty of good players but few better than Sam Burgess.

With his mother Julie in the stands alongside celebrity co-owner Russell Crowe, the Englishman scored two tries and had a hand in another in easily his best performance since joining the NRL.

He was rewarded with a standing ovation by fans after earning an early mark eight minutes from the end.

A frenetic beginning to the game saw three tries scored inside the first seven minutes, the Rabbitohs conceding after just 95 seconds as many in the bumper Easter Monday crowd of 30,120 were still making their way to their seats.

It was all so simple. Ben Roberts ducked out of dummy half, feigned to pass and burrowed his way past Ben Lowe and Chris Sandow to plant the ball down.

Bryson Goodwin added the extras for the perfect start.

But it all turned to mud from the kick off, Souths finding touch and immediately going on the attack.

From the scrum win, the ball went wide to centre Beau Champion, who ran a straight line to cruise past Josh Morris and touch down for his fifth try of the season.

Three minutes later the Rabbitohs were in again.

John Sutton's accurate crossfield bomb was spilt by Goodwin and Champion was on the spot to grab the rebound and find Sandow on his inside.

Suddenly it was Souths leading 12-6.

There were further worries for Canterbury, with prop Jarrad Hickey coughing up blood following a heavy tackle by Lowe and Issac Luke.

He was sent to hospital for tests.

The Dogs recovered from the onslaught to mount some pressure at the other end but were unable to crack the resolute Souths defence despite throwing plenty at them.

A long break from Luke swung the momentum back the Rabbitohs' way, the hooker offloading to Rhys Wesser who was brought down in a flying tackle by Steve Turner.

From the play-the-ball, with Canterbury's defence shot, the ball went quickly to the right for Burgess, Sutton and Champion to combine to send Nathan Merritt in on 24 minutes.

Burgess did it all himself five minutes later, taking the ball one pass off the ruck and crashing over for a soft try.

Luke's conversion was true and at 22-4 it was a long way back for the Bulldogs.

Burgess put it out of reach with his second try five minutes before half-time.

Souths dropped off a little after the break, scoring through Luke after 53 minutes and adding their seventh four-pointer at the death when Champion latched onto a Brett Kimmorley intercept.

After a slow start to the season, the Rabbitohs have now won two on the trot.

The Bulldogs, one victory away from last year's grand final, are languishing near the foot of the table after winning just once in four starts.

South Sydney 38
Tries: Burgess 2, Champion 2, Sandow, Merritt, Luke
Goals: Luke 3, Sandow 2

Canterbury 16
Tries: Roberts, Goodwin, Barba
Goals: Goodwin 2

Crowd: 30,120