St George Illawarra have temporarily forced their way back into the top eight following a 42-16 win over the Gold Coast Titans at UOW Jubilee Oval, Kogarah on Saturday afternoon.
Replacement halfback Kurt Mann was the recipient of the game's first try when he and Josh Dugan worked the right-hand side of the field over in the ninth minute.
Winger Jason Nightingale followed the Dragons' initial efforts up midway through the first half when he scored in the corner thanks to slick hands in the lead up.
Back-rower Joel Thompson followed suit in the 33rd minute when he sliced through and slammed the ball down over the white stripe.
Nightingale had his second try four minutes later, falling over in the corner following a special Tim Lafai offload.
The Dragons quickly followed their first half success in the 48th minute in magical circumstances when Cameron McInnes finished off a special play that involved nine passes and a bullocking Tariq Sims run.
The Titans finally found some success through Dale Copley who finished off a long range movement with half hour remaining.
Titans winger Anthony Don's spectacular effort to catch a Ash Taylor kick across field came in the 56th minute, but the Dragons went ahead by 20 points soon after courtesy of a Gareth Widdop penalty goal.
McInnes had his second in the 64th minute when he forced his way over from dummy half but that was almost immediately cancelled out when Paterika Vaivai scored under the posts two minutes later.
Mann's second try in the final three minutes confirmed the win for the Dragons, securing the 26-point win.
St George Illawarra Dragons 42 (Jason Nightingale 2, Cameron McInnes 2, Kurt Mann 2, Joel Thompson tries; Gareth Widdop 7 goals) defeated Gold Coast Titans 16 (Dale Copley, Anthony Don, Paterika Vaivai tries; Tyrone Roberts 2 goals) at UOW Jubilee Oval, Kogarah. Crowd: 8973. Half-time: Dragons 22-0
