Western Suburbs have put one hand on the minor premiership but the race towards the Newcastle Rugby League finals was blown wide open after Sunday's other results.
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Wests easily accounted for Souths 36-16 in their top-of-the-table clash while just five points separate the remaining six teams on the competition ladder after Macquarie kicked a late field goal to beat Lakes 13-12 and Cessnock fought back for a 30-all draw with Central.
Saturday saw Maitland edge out Kurri Kurri 19-16.
This means Wests (20) have opened up a six-point lead to Souths (14) at the top of the overall standings with four regular rounds and a few catch-up games remaining.
Coalfields trio Maitland (12), Cessnock (11) and Kurri (10) still round out the top five but Macquarie, Lakes (8) and last-placed Central (7) are all in contention to make the play-offs in 2019.
It creates a scramble towards the finals series, which start on August 31, but Wests have put themselves in a strong position and can't miss the semis like they did last year for the first time since 1979.
'We knew we had Souths twice in the space of a month and we've got Cessnock, who only rolled us a few weeks ago," Wests coach Matt Lantry said.
"We've got a few big weeks ahead of us so it was good to get that win on the board and create a gap between us and second."
Wests dominated the opening 60 minutes of Sunday's encounter with Souths at Harker Oval, leading 24-4 at half-time and extending their advantage to 32 points by the hour mark.
Rosellas trio Blake Andrews, Malu Fiu and Ryan Walker all crossed for doubles.
Wests five-eighth Chad O'Donnell was given 10 minutes in the sin bin for a professional foul early in proceedings.
Souths were missing props Luke Higgins and Cameron King to injury.
Elsewhere and Matt Simon was the hero for Macquarie at Lyall Peacocok Field, slotting a 20 metre field goal in the 79th minute to break the deadlock with Lakes.
The Scorpions had led 16-0 at the interval before the visitors scored 16 points of their own in the second half.
"He's the kid that keeps on giving [Simon]," Macquarie coach Adam Bettridge said.
"This gives us a real shot now [at making the semis]."
The Goannas scored three tries in the space of six minutes late in the piece at Cessnock Sportsground, turning around a 30-12 deficit and splitting the points with Central.
Cessnock are fourth and Central stay last by a point.
And 24 hours earlier at Maitland Sportsground the Pickers came from 12-6 down to eventually beat Kurri by three. moving to outright third on the table.
Meanwhile, CRL Newcastle has moved within one win of a grand final appearance in the NSW Women's Premiership following a 22-12 win over the North Sydney Bears at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday.
LADDER: Wests 20; Souths 14; Maitland 12; Cessnock 11; Kurri 10; Macquarie, Lakes 8; Central 7.
