Warriors coach Ivan Cleary hailed his side's determined defence after a 12-6 win over South Sydney extended their NRL winning streak to five games on Sunday.

Tries to Brett Seymour and Krisnan Inu proved enough in front of 16,872 fans at Mt Smart Stadium, as the Rabbitohs could only manage a Rhys Wesser four-pointer against the Warriors' ever-improving defence.

Long-renowned for their flashy attack and ability to rack up a score, the Warriors' are beginning to make defence their hallmark under Cleary and he declared this one of their most committed performances.

"The best thing about today was our defence and this was the first time we've kept anyone to 10 points (this season)," Cleary said.

"If you can defend well then you're always in with a chance to win any game.

"There's no fluke, it (defence) has been reasonably good for most of the year, but we probably just haven't put 80 minutes together.

"We've conceded tries out of nothing. The only one we conceded today was hard to stop."

The win carried the New Zealand side into sixth spot with a deserved rest awaiting with the bye next week.

Rabbitohs coach John Lang was far from downbeat despite his side being unable to claim a third straight win, leaving them two points outside the top eight.

It was another spirited effort from a Souths side missing the likes of Roy Asotasi, Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess to injury.

"There have been games earlier in the season where I've been really disappointed with our effort, but I couldn't be disappointed with our effort and commitment today," Lang said.

"Six points is not enough to win many games but obviously a lot of that has got to do with the Warriors' defence.

"It was just a really tough game, they started strong right from the opening minute and really didn't relent.

"I was proud of the effort."

The match started in scrappy circumstances, with both sides wasteful in possession and failing to convert a host of chances in the first half.

The home side had a Kevin Locke try disallowed by the video referee for obstruction before finally breaking the deadlock with six minutes from the break through Brett Seymour.

A turnover deep in the Rabbitohs' territory led to a break by Lance Hohaia, and Seymour was on hand to nab a try under the posts.

Souths struck back in the 55th minute when Wesser show good reflexes to kick ahead a loose pass by Nathan Merritt and score.

However, a Souths mistake from the kick-off handed possession straight back to the Warriors and the home side took full advantage, with Aaron Heremaia and Lewis Brown helping to send winger Inu over in the corner.

James Maloney's sideline conversion made it 12-6 and while a Chris Sandow 40-20 kick gave the visitors some hope, they couldn't find any holes in the reliable Warriors' defence.

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