Wests Tigers talisman Benji Marshall scored the game-clinching try against St George Illawarra, the visitors winning 18-10 in a fiery National Rugby League clash at WIN Stadium.

With just over five minutes remaining Marshall outpaced winger Josh Morris after Tigers winger Beau Ryan pounced on a loose ball and broke away from deep in his own half.

The Dragons scored the first eight points of the second half after trailing 12-2 at the break and Ryan scored the Tigers only other try to help produce a result that moved them to 24 points, equal sixth with the Dragons who maintained a slightly better for and against.

Referee Shane Hayne put three players on report, two of them in a tempestuous second half.

Tigers' second rower Todd Payten had his name noted for a dangerous tackle on Dragons centre Matt Cooper, who he lifted off the ground in the 48th minute.

Temperatures rose again ten minutes later when Dragons second rower Lagi Setu was reported for a high tackle on Tiger Corey Payne.

Just before halftime, Hayne put Dragons hooker Dean Young on report for an elbow to the head of Tigers centre Chris Lawrence.

While the two teams came together on a couple of occasions, no blows were thrown that Hayne deemed serious enough to warrant a sin bin or further reports.

The Dragons came out firing after a lacklustre first half, scoring eight points in the first 11 minutes.

Winger Josh Morris crossed for a try after good work from Matt Prior and Mark Gasnier, as the Dragons swung the ball quickly across the field.

Five-eighth Jamie Soward converted and added a 51st minute penalty to slash the deficit to two.

The Dragons continued to press but some costly errors combined with some strong defence, especially from Tigers fullback Shannon Gallant, kept them at bay until Marshall settled the issue.

In the first half Soward opened the scoring with a penalty inside the first ten minutes. Marshall landed two penalties to nudge the Tigers ahead.

Dragons fullback Jason Nightingale pulled off a try saving tackle on opposite number Gallant halfway through the half.

It proved a brief reprieve for the home team, with Ryan notching his sixth try of the campaign shortly after.

Tigers coach Tim Sheens nominated defence as the key to victory and was happy to see his traditionally free-flowing side exercise some caution, including opting for shots at goal.

"Semi-final football is about taking kicks at goal when you get it dead centre and you tackle your backside off, simple as that," Sheens said.

"Play it tough when you have to play it tough, which is what they did. We've got to play that footy otherwise we're going to be sunk."

He said both sides were underdone through injuries and hinted that two of three of his men, including Farah, carried niggles into the game, though he declined to elaborate.

Farah said the Tigers just tried to brush aside any of the distractions caused by the incidents that resulted in tonight's reports.

"There were stages there in the second half when they were coming at us, they got a bit of momentum there were a few scuffles there," Farah said.

"But I just told the boys to just worry about the footy side of things and I thought we responded well in defence."

Opposing skipper Gasnier downplayed the niggly incidents.

"Both teams were desperate to win. I think we were well aware of where we were both on the ladder and the game probably showed the desperation accordingly," Gasnier said.

Dragons coach Nathan Brown said veteran hooker Simon Woolford could be sidelined for a few weeks after suffering a first-half knee injury.

"They got a fair bit of the penalties in the first half and small things went their way. In the second half we got a few things go our way which allowed us to get a bit of a roll on," Brown said.

"We had some chances we could have done some things better."

Sheens said former Dragon Ryan, who played his junior football with Wests Illawarra, had some great things in him but, blew hot and cold in the game.

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