St George Illawarra continued breathing fire with a 24-16 win over Newcastle, but star winger Wendell Sailor ran out of puff with the chance to score a remarkable try in his first full NRL game in seven years.

Sailor was denied what would have been a brilliant 70m try in the 34th minute when he was gunned down by Knights halfback Jarrod Mullen just one metre short of the tryline.

The dual international's obvious loss of pace didn't cost the Dragons, however, as they raced to a 24-0 lead to set up their seventh straight victory before a late rally by the gallant Knights.

Making his second comeback to the NRL after his return four weeks ago ended with a fractured cheekbone, Sailor almost turned the clock back to his heyday with a wonderful intercept of Mullen's cross-field bomb to race clear.

But the 70m run to the line was simply too far for the 33-year-old who was dragged over the sideline by Mullen before he could add to the 110 tries he scored for Brisbane before defecting to rugby union seven years ago.

Sailor wasn't the only motivated Dragon to fall agonising short of scoring in the opening half as former Knight Kirk Reynoldson, who was virtually booted out of Newcastle last year, tripped over his own shoe laces with the tryline beckoning in the 24th minute.

Despite the near misses the Dragons still raced to a comfortable 14-0 halftime lead with tries to Chase Stanley and Josh Morris.

Stanley's was a benefit of the doubt decision by the video referee after he had grounded the ball on Mullen's foot.

Morris completed an 80m play in the 39th minute to sink Newcastle hearts after the Knights had gallantly held on against a weight of possession and penalties to the Dragons.

Dragons star Jamie Soward put on a double left foot step to swerve his way over four minutes after the break as he hauled in 12 points for the night, while workaholic prop Jason Ryles barged over in the 53rd minute.

Buoyed by 22,348 fans the Knights fought back with two tries within five minutes to late replacement Junior Sau to reduce the deficit to 24-10 with 18 minutes to go.

Named in place of injured skipper Danny Buderus, Sau's strength and speed helped him score his second double in just three NRL games.

But Newcastle's surging finish was thwarted as much by the Dragons as referee Sean Hampstead who ruled several questionable forward passes against the home side, one which denied James McManus a try in the 64th minute.

Tireless Newcastle utility Kurt Gidley capped his outstanding effort on NSW State of Origin duty by adding a consolation try and conversion with just seconds left on the clock.

Sailor said he was "shattered" to miss out on scoring the try.

"Nine times out of ten I usually score that," he said.

"I felt like I was running on a treadmill that last 20 metres ... I was pretty shattered, I thought I should have scored that."

With the Dragons expected to get NSW stars Matt Cooper and Mark Gasnier back from injury next week, Sailor said he has prepared to be sent to the Queensland Cup to play for the Burleigh Bears.

Reynoldson meanwhile said while beating the Knights was a dream come true in his battle for redemption, he was embarrassed by his tryscoring gaffe after beating fullback Wes Naiqama with a dummy.

"I have never thrown a dummy in my life," he explained.

"I had post-try celebrations running through my head. The line was coming up and I just stumbled."

Knights coach Brian Smith was left fuming at the performance of whistleblower Hampstead but said his side's biggest setback was the crushing long-range try to Morris just before halftime.

"The try just before the break was telling," said Smith.

"I thought there were a lot of things (referee decisions) that went against us. A lot of things went against us."

Further compounding Newcastle's third loss in succession was a grade two medial ligament strain to prop Jesse Royal which will sideline him for the next six weeks.

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