South Sydney 12 Wests Tigers 36

IT WAS a win made in the wet without any rain. In Benji Marshall's shower, actually.

"I was in the shower for probably half an hour in the morning, thinking about the game, and just thinking, 'What am I not doing?'," Marshall said yesterday.

While his long shower may not have been the best thing for a state in a drought, it helped to break the Tigers' own drought, as they rolled the Rabbitohs and ended their losing streak at four matches.

Benji may be back. He emerged from his morning shower and watched highlights on DVD of his past glories, including the 2005 grand final win over North Queensland, and created a few more against Souths.

"I've got a few tapes of highlights throughout my career," he said. "They're highlights from '05 and '06 - just to remind myself of what I can do. I just wanted to get some confidence.

"I think I forgot how good I could be. I went into the game feeling confident - I haven't gone into a game as confident this year."

It wasn't quite Marshall circa 2005, but there were glimpses. And, let's be fair, he was shaded by hooker Robbie Farah, his halfback, who had a hand in three of the Tigers' seven tries. But Marshall, who was heavily involved in two four-pointers, has been in a darker place than Farah in recent months.

"I was just sick of losing," Marshall said.

Sick of being sick, too. Marshall, the brilliant but sometimes broken five-eighth, has had the flu all week, "but I didn't want to show it".

Yesterday, he was not sick but slick. And quick. His kicking and passing games hit the mark, and so, importantly, did many of his efforts in defence.

"It's not easy when your form's down," Marshall said. "I always knew I could be better. It's always good to go and prove people wrong, but the only person I wanted to prove anything to [yesterday] was myself. I took a step in the right direction.

"When you've been in and out as much as I have, coming back to my best was never going to take two or three games. Hopefully today is the start of Benji being back."

Much of the credit has to go to Farah, who has been at halfback against Melbourne and Souths. It's no coincidence the Tigers looked far better in both games. The club went into yesterday's game following four straight defeats, and coach Tim Sheens admitted it would have been the last chance for many of them.

Asked what may have happened if four turned into five, he said: "There'd be lots of under 20s playing next week. You'd really start to experiment. I'm not worried about the eight, but if we'd lost another game, that'd be [five] in a row - you'd have to start making some changes, very serious changes."

Marshall thought he might be one of them. "It's a cut-throat business," he said. "Everyone's playing for positions. I didn't think I was playing that bad, but I wanted to be above that. It was lucky we won because I could have been playing reserve grade next week."

Sheens said he would not have dumped Marshall and that, barring injuries, Farah and Marshall would guide the Tigers in the halves for the rest of the season.

"Working with Robbie takes the pressure off Benji in that he doesn't have to call every play," Sheens said. "That's why I've always said that the two of them playing closer together was going to be the strength of our team. I said when I made the change, I said to Rob that we need to do something for the year, and although I know that he's our better [number] nine, he's also the best seven in the club at the moment. At the moment, I can cover the nine easier than I can cover the seven."

The win over the in-form Rabbitohs was due to far more than two players, of course. A stout defensive effort late in the first half, in which the Tigers repelled the Rabbitohs for six straight sets - 28 tackles - was the foundation for the flash.

"It's something we've lacked - that pride in our defensive line - and the whole time I said to the boys, 'If we can come out of this without conceding points, we'll grow a leg', and I thought we did," Farah said. "Not only did we defend our line, we came back and scored a try down the other end, which put us in front at half-time."

Said Sheens: "It was probably the making of it. It was a show of character from the team, which we hadn't seen for a while."

Welcome back, Wests Tigers. Bienvenue, Benji. It's good to see you again.

WESTS TIGERS 36 (C Lawrence 2 B Ryan 2 T Tuiaki 2 R Farah tries B Marshall 4 goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 12 (R Asotasi J Simpson tries I Luke 2 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: J Robinson. Crowd: 21,818.