Latrell Mitchell has ruled himself out of contention for NSW State of Origin selection after making his return from injury in South Sydney's 30-12 win over Parramatta at Stadium Australia.
Earlier on Saturday, the Cowboys beat the Broncos 40-26 in their Queensland derby, while the Sharks defeated the Bulldogs 18-6.
Mitchell was playing his first match since round five, having recovered from a hamstring injury.
But he told Fox Sports after full-time he would not be putting up his hand to earn a Blues recall for State of Origin III in Brisbane on July 13.
"I think I'm going to shut those headlines down now, I'm going to pull myself out and worry about Souths and focus on myself," Mitchell said.
"They've got a real good team there, NSW, and good luck to them and (Matthew) Burton in the centres.
"Give (Stephen) Crichton a go too, let him bleed in. I really want to focus on South Sydney and getting myself right for the backend of the season."
In atrocious conditions caused by Sydney's wild weather, Mitchell focused more on getting through the 80 minutes unscathed than putting on a rugby league masterclass against the Eels.
But Mitchell did break through the line to ignite the play that put the result beyond doubt in the 65th minute.
When the match was in the balance, Alex Johnston put his hand up for yardage carriages more often than Mitchell, while the halves took on the vast majority of play-making duties.
Pleasingly, though, there were no signs of the hamstring troubles that have hindered Mitchell in recent times.
And coming off the back of a hefty loss to St George Illawarra, the Rabbitohs clearly took confidence from Mitchell's inclusion as they regained composure in attack.
The Rabbitohs are the most error-prone team in the NRL but somehow managed to hold the ball better in the wet than they do when it is dry.
By the time they made an error, they had completed 11 of 11 sets and were two tries up.
Called up late for just his fourth NRL appearance, centre Isaiah Tass had a hand in both, first batting Cody Walker's pass on to Johnston before catching a Jaxson Paulo chip kick that he offloaded to Jai Arrow.
Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou hooked Lachlan Ilias just 28 minutes into the clash with St George Illawarra but the young halfback bounced back and looked far more comfortable.
With the loss, the Eels missed a great chance to close in on the premiership leaders.
Instead, they fell victim to the trend that has typified their season to date, losing matches they are expected to win.
The Eels average 14 offloads per match but appeared gun-shy in the wet and only created four second-phase plays.
Without that aspect of their game, Parramatta did not trouble the Rabbitohs who controlled the battle for territory with ease, despite the wet conditions.
Cowboys overpower Broncos
North Queensland continued its march towards a top-four finish with a thrilling home derby win over rivals Brisbane.
Two quick tries to begin the second half improved their marginal half-time lead before a late flurry from the Broncos had the sell-out Townsville crowd sweating in the final minutes.
The hosts scored two tries in two separate four-minute periods to garner a sizeable buffer in the second half, but when Corey Oates crossed for his second of the game and Selwyn Cobbo charged over from dummy-half the margin was just eight with four minutes to play.
In their final crack in the Cowboys' half, Pat Carrigan knocked on and from the resulting set Murray Taulagi put the icing on the cake with the host's sixth try.
The Cowboys have won 10 of their last 11 matches and scored at least 28 points in their last nine victories. The win also sealed their first ever 4-0 sweep over Queensland sides since Gold Coast joined the NRL in 2007.
Scott Drinkwater continued his impressive season with three try assists and darting runs from the back, combining with the returning Kyle Feldt to score after six weeks on the sidelines.
Valentine Holmes moved to the top of the point-scorers list kicking six from six. The centre also ran for a team-high 153 metres, while Jason Taumalolo was powerful through the middle with 149 of his own.
In the opening half, Brisbane's defensive resolve repelled a Cowboys attack that enjoyed 72 per cent territory and 26 tackles inside the Broncos' 20-metre line.
The visitors were first to score when Peta Hiku erratically attempted an offload which Billy Walters pounced upon. But four minutes later Murray Taulagi intercepted a pass as the Broncos attempted some flare of their own from inside their half to level.
Two Holmes penalty goals bettered the one from Adam Reynolds to give the hosts 10-8 lead at the break.
But Reynolds and playmaking partner Ezra Mam heaped pressure on Kevin Walters' side with poor kicking forgoing valuable field position.
Reynolds' kicked out on the full from a restart and handed the Cowboys two seven-tackle sets in the opening 40.
Mam was strong in defence but a first-tackle kick after Cobbo's break wasted valuable territory for Brisbane which was hard to come by in the opening term.
For the Cowboys, their platform was laid through powerful carrying from Taumalolo and Jordan McLean but Brisbane could only be cracked once before the break.
Sharks beat Bulldogs in Sydney wet
Canterbury was unable to overcome the elements and a stoic Cronulla defence as the Sharks claimed a hard-fought win to strengthen their spot in the top four.
In front of 8,837 spectators at a rain-soaked Western Sydney Stadium, the Bulldogs were aiming for a third straight win for the first time since 2019.
But they came up short as Ronaldo Mulitalo, Sione Katoa and Briton Nikora scored tries to give Craig Fitzgibbon's side their 10th win of the season.
Canterbury fullback Jake Averillo scored his team's only try and the Bulldogs — who who were without interim coach Mick Potter after he contracted COVID-19 — will also be dealing with a mounting injury toll.
Tevita Pangai Jr succumbed to an ankle injury in the first half and debutant Declan Casey followed him off after half-time when he got his head in the wrong place as he tried to bring down Sharks prop Andrew Fifita.
The Bulldogs are already without Luke Thompson, Ava Seumanufagai, Billy Tsikrikas and Jack Hetherington, and a long-term injury to Pangai Jr would severely test their forward depth.
Despite the testing conditions, which led to large puddles of water across the playing surface, Cronulla started with an expansive game-plan as Mulitalo dived in at the corner after six minutes.
The Sharks had the majority of possession in the opening quarter of the match but were unable to capitalise as Canterbury's defence held firm.
Matt Burton pulled off a pinpoint covering tackle after a 40-metre break from Mulitalo with Kyle Flanagan producing a strip on Siosifa Talakai on the next tackle.
The Bulldogs grew into the match but it was not until the last play of the half when Averillo pulled them level after diving on a grubber-kick from Jeremy Marshall-King into the Cronulla in-goal.
Averillo and Raymond Faitala-Mariner both went close to scoring Canterbury's second try early in the second half off the back of a towering Burton bomb.
But the Sharks were the next to score when they went up the other end, with Nicho Hynes sending Katoa in on the flank.
Play was interrupted for 10 minutes as Casey received attention and was taken off in a medicab.
Hynes had a chance to open up an eight-point buffer with a penalty goal not long after but missed his chance.
It mattered for little because with 17 minutes to go Nikora hit a nice line off fullback Will Kennedy and waltzed through to wrap up a Cronulla victory.
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