The South Sydney winger's love affair with the SCG continued yesterday after he posted a hat-trick of tries in the 50-10 demolition of Wests Tigers.

It was the second time in two seasons that Merritt had made the difference against the Tigers. In the corresponding game at the SCG last year, he landed a match-winning field goal against them.

"Nothing will beat last year's game but today was up there," Merritt said, smiling broadly as he left the ground.

"It was an enjoyable day getting three tries and a big win like that.

"I'm enjoying playing at the SCG and it's treating me all right at the moment. I'm looking forward to playing here more often."

Merritt's afternoon started in brilliant fashion. The Souths winger put English backrower Sam Burgess into a hole before running around to back him up in support.

Once he took the pass he left Benji Marshall in his wake as he sprinted upfield to score underneath the posts and put the Rabbitohs up 6-0.

He followed that up in the 48th minute when Souths halfback Chris Sandow scooped up a loose pass from Marshall and passed it to his teammate to cross in the corner.

Merritt capped his afternoon in the 70th minute when Marshall knocked on another loose pass into his leg and Merritt regathered to score.

Souths coach John Lang had a feeling Merritt might be in for a big afternoon after the Rabbitohs winger had come under scrutiny for only managing one try in their past four games.

"He was overdue, and he's just one of those players who've got the knack that if there's a chance on, they'll turn it into a try," Lang said.

"Nathan scores a lot of tries every season and if there's a chance that comes he'll take it -- and he took three of them today."

Merritt wasn't the only Rabbitohs player to shine yesterday. Centre Beau Champion grabbed a double, five-eighth John Sutton and Issac Luke proved a handful in attack, and backrower David Taylor played himself further into Origin contention for Queensland.

"Everything fell our way today," Lang said.

"We were scratchy at the start and we turned over a few balls and got a few attacking opportunities.

"But the thing I was most pleased about was our defence, and we defended well all day."

The win keeps the Rabbitohs in the top eight for the moment and Lang warned that his team would get better the longer the season wore on.

"We're still really trying to get it together," he said.

"To have a good win for us as a team, even if the Tigers were well below their best, is great for the for and against and helps build that belief in what you're capable of."