He who laughs last always laughs hardest and it was hard to wipe the grin from the face of NRL veteran winger Adam MacDougall.

MacDougall was in fine from after he trumped old sparring partner Wendell Sailor in Newcastle's 24-18 NRL win over St George Illawarra at WIN Jubilee Oval on Saturday night.

What started as some friendly banter earlier in the week turned into pure theatre on the field as Sailor and MacDougall waged a one-on-one battle which intriguingly never saw the two ever come into contact.

Sailor dominated the opening 40 minutes with two tries to power the Dragons to a 14-6 lead, each try accompanied by a one and then two finger salute for MacDougall standing on the other side of the field.

But what a difference one half of NRL football can make.

Fifteen minutes into the second stanza, Sailor was sitting on the Dragons bench icing a strained hamstring, an injury he hopes won't keep him out of next week's Anzac Day clash against the Sydney Roosters.

On the field the Knights found a passage down the right wing Sailor had been occupying with Junior Sau before MacDougall turned the entire evening on its head when he scored the Kinight's third try in a seven-minute spell to open up a 24-14 lead.

"The Dell gave me sore ears there in that first half, he was letting everyone know it, he fell over the line twice and he was telling the boys how good he was," MacDougall said.

"Hopefully the Dell goes and gets a copy of Kenny Rogers' The Gambler - you don't start celebrating while you're sitting at the table - we got the points and that's all that matters.

And was MacDougall tempted to return serve after crossing for his four-pointer?

"I saw him sitting on the bench, I thought he might have gone to the kiosk to get a pie.

"His big backside apparently got some cramps.

"He's a great footballer but I'm serious, they should change the colour of his jersey, it's not doing his backside any favours."

Sailor gave credit to his former Kangaroo tour roommate, the pair left salivating for another battle which could only happen if the two sides were to meet in the finals.

"I wasn't happy that I was on the bench (when he scored) but I just thought he might go looking for me because I went looking for him once or twice just to let him know that the fat boy scored," said Sailor, making reference to MacDougall's 'five chins' jibe which sparked the war of words.

"I suppose bragging rights to him on that, we didn't get to clash which was unfortunate but I'm sure we'll battle again one day.

"I'd give those two tries back if we could win the game tonight."

As it was the game was Newcastle's, Isaac De Gois producing his best game in a Knights jumper in a match coach Brian Smith claimed could be a turning point for his young side.

"It will be interesting to see just how this team develops now from this point on," Smith said.

"I think we've put a stake in the small hill that we've climbed.

"We haven't climbed the mountain by any means but it will be really interesting to see how we go."

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