Wayne Bennett looks set to avoid the first wooden spoon of his NRL coaching career thanks to South Sydney's 20-16 defeat of Parramatta at Allianz Stadium.
On return from injury, veteran five-eighth Cody Walker sent Tallis Duncan over for two second-half tries on Saturday night, putting the Rabbitohs on course for a second consecutive win.
Souths were home when the superb Jye Gray stopped Isaiah Iongi metres short of the tryline as his rival fullback looked set to storm over.
Along with his defensive gusto, the diminutive Gray finished with 211 run metres and put winger Tyrone Munro over for the first try of the night.
"His efforts were pretty special, but he wasn't without friends putting in great efforts as well," said Bennett.
"It was a gutsy win."
With a bye still to come across the final three rounds of the regular season, the Rabbitohs can now only finish last on the NRL ladder if 17th-placed Gold Coast win all of their remaining games.
That appears a highly unlikely proposition for the Titans, who have won only five matches for the year and face finals contenders the Warriors and Dolphins in coming weeks.
Even if Gold Coast were to finish the season with their first three-game winning streak since July 2024, multiple other results would have to also go against Souths for the Rabbitohs to claim the spoon from here.
Bennett has never won the dreaded prize in 37 previous seasons coaching in the premiership, though did win it once during his earlier stint in the Brisbane Rugby League.
The coach was all smiles at fulltime.
"Very unlikely (that we'll get the spoon) is it? Do we have a party now or do we wait?" asked a cheeky Bennett.
A first last-placed finish had appeared a very real possibility as recently as a fortnight ago, though, with injuries plaguing Souths throughout the coach's first season back at the helm.
But they had enough grit left to deny an improving Eels side.
After Souths went to the break down two points, Walker threw a cutout pass for Duncan to touch down, before a flat pass from the five-eighth helped the two Indigenous men combine again in Indigenous Round.
Parramatta winger Zac Lomax bagged a second try in the final 10 minutes to give Souths a scare but the Eels could not capitalise on late chances.
"They had a whole heap more effort than us tonight. We got what we deserved in the end," said Eels coach Jason Ryles.
"I think that's been one of the real strengths of our game, our fight and our effort. (But) there were a couple of moments in that game tonight that were really disappointing."
Without favourite co-conspirator Latrell Mitchell (back) by his side, Rabbitohs winger Alex Johnston went scoreless in the hunt for the league's all-time try-scoring record.
To overtake Ken Irvine's mark of 212 four-pointers by the end of the season, the veteran must score four tries in the Rabbitohs' last two games.