A horror night turned into a magical one for Wests Tigers five-eighth Benji Marshall, with the Kiwi international engineering a thrilling 24-15 opening night NRL victory over St George Illawarra at Telstra Stadium.

Terrorised by Dragons centre Mark Gasnier all night, Marshall came good when it mattered most, beating three defenders before throwing a miracle flick pass to set a match-winning try for Tigers debutant Michael Crockett four minutes from time.

Tigers centre Paul Whatuira matched Gasnier's hat trick when he crossed for his third try as the fulltime siren sounded, but it was Marshall who was the hero after being at fault in all of Gasnier's four-pointers.

Whatuira scored the first try of the season in the sixth minute after Dragons skipper Trent Barrett failed to wrap up Scott Prince, but Gasnier put the Dragons back on level pegging when he beat three defenders, the first of which was Marshall, to score a powerful try.

The Premiers again took a deserved lead in the 20th minute when Anthony Laffranchi burst through a couple of flimsy tackles by Dragons pair Ashton Sims and Matt Cooper before reaching out to score, but his joy was shortlived when he and replacement prop Ryan O'Hara were placed on report for a lifting tackle on Corey Payne.

Gasnier ensured the Dragons were ahead at the break when he crossed for his second in the 33rd minute, pouncing on a clever grubber from back-up hooker Aaron Gorrell right in front of a bemused Marshall.

In a match which featured several minor melees, referee Paul Simpkins finally made good with his threats when he sin-binned Jason Ryles just before the break, but the Dragons survived the one-man disadvantage to maintain their two-point advantage until the Test prop returned to action early in the second half.

Gorrell again turned provider for Gasnier as the Australian centre outleapt Marshall to score his third of the night after 57 minutes, the Dragons taking a 14-8 lead.

Whatuira capitalised on some good work by Prince close to the line, staying low and diving for the line, with new skipper Brett Hodgson adding the extra to tie up the game.

Barrett nailed a 35 metre field goal to give the Dragons a one point advantage but he quickly turned villain as he knocked-on from the kick-off following a massive three-man hit before Marshall turned his night around.

It wasn't all good news for the Tigers, with lock Liam Fulton taken off in the 2nd minute with a dislocated shoulder and Bryce Gibbs joining Laffranchi and O'Hara in being placed on report for a 10th minute high tackle on Luke Bailey.

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