Life after Sonny Bill Williams got off to the worst possible start for the Bulldogs after a 30-0 thrashing by St George Illawarra at ANZ Stadium.

The Dragons ran in six unanswered tries, including a first half hat-trick to winger Josh Morris, against a hapless Bulldogs side still in shock just two days after Williams's dramatic mid-season walkout to play French rugby.

As the Kiwi Test star, who had been named in the side to play the match, was making his way to France, his stunned teammates were left to fight in cold and wet Sydney conditions in their bid to avoid the NRL wooden spoon.

Any hopes the dramas could somehow unite the Bulldogs were killed by halftime when they trailed 26-0 and, despite an improved second half, they were unable to trouble the scorers.

Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes admitted Williams's departure had some affect on his side but said having to field an increasingly depleted team was taking its toll.

Aside from Williams's departure, the Bulldogs are battling a lengthy injury list, while Ben Roberts and Lee Te Maari were also stood down after their involvement in an altercation at a Cronulla nightclub last weekend.

It meant the Bulldogs had to field a highly inexperienced side including rookie Ben Barba and the inexperienced John Kite, Aaron Groom, Brent Crisp and Fred Briggs.

"If you're looking for reasons (for the loss) there's obviously the distraction of this week," Folkes said.

"But there'd probably be $2 million of our salary cap sitting on the sidelines.

"So there were a lot of young guys and they'll be better for the experience next year."

"... There's probably been enough said about (Sonny Bill) already.

"It's disappointing but rather than talk about the guy that's not here maybe we should talk about the guys that are here and the opportunity it gave them."

The Dragons, who also scored through Matt Cooper, Brett Morris and Jamie Soward, moved into sixth place with the win after two straight losses had seen them drop out of the top eight.

Morris, bound for the Bulldogs next season himself, sealed his hattrick within 25 minutes with Dragons halves Ben Hornby and Soward pulling all the strings in the first half.

The Bulldogs enjoyed the better of the second half but their best chance to score turned into another try for the Dragons, when Soward snatched an intercept and ran 90 metres to score in the 55th.

Dragons coach Nathan Brown was pleased with his side's first-half performance but labelled their attack in the second "ordinary."

A minor sour point from the win was a corked thigh to centre Mark Gasnier, who will have scans on Tuesday but was confident it wasn't serious.

Gasnier, who is also bound for French rugby at the end of the season, would not be drawn into commenting on Williams' departure but Brown admitted he felt sorry for his fellow coach.

"I do feel for Folkesy, he's stood by a lot of the players at that club for a long time now and I'm not sure if he's been rewarded with the same over a few years, it must be tough," Brown said.

In further blows to the Bulldogs, Tim Winitana hobbled off after just four minutes with a cracked rib while forward John Kite was placed on report with five minutes to go after lashing out with a boot on Simon Woolford.

Bulldogs captain Andrew Ryan was determined dramas affecting the players would not break their spirit.

"There's no point sitting around with our heads down, we'll keep working hard and we'll try again next week," Ryan said.

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