They've been disciples of discipline all season under Saint Benny and St George Illawarra forward Ben Creagh is adamant the Dragons won't be bullied into an absence of faith again in 2009.

Having built a premiership lead on a strict game plan of possession, field position, defence and minimal penalties, the Dragons showed chinks in their armour when they deviated spectacularly from course in the 24-12 loss to Canberra.

The Raiders produced an aggressive gameplan that clearly rattled the Dragons, who ended up with two players sin-binned - Dean Young and Jeremy Smith - while Michael Weyman left the game early with concussion.

It resulted in one of their worst performances all year - conceding more metres, making more tackles and having fewer sets in possession than any other game.

They posted their second-highest missed tackle count of the year, third most penalties conceded and third-highest number of errors in a display which prompted questions about the Dragons' vulnerability heading into the finals.

But Creagh insists the Dragons have learnt a valuable lesson from the defeat and has guaranteed they won't be bullied into mistakes again for the rest of 2009.

"They can try and bully us but I think we've got all the players who will hopefully keep level heads from now on and won't let it get to them," Creagh told AAP on Wednesday.

"We got away from the type of footy we've been playing all season.

"It was a bit of a disruptive game with a fair few fights, Mick Weyman got knocked out, sin bins, we had 12 players at stages of the game.

"It kind of took it out of us a bit and straight after half-time they blew us away.

"We definitely learnt a lot from the game. We definitely won't let it happen again for the rest of the season."

Creagh said discipline was the key for his side this season and was confident the Dragons will be primed for a finals fight as they tackle Brisbane, South Sydney and Parramatta in the next three weeks - all clubs fighting desperately just to reach the top eight.

But he's warned his teammates that any further stumbles would be a waste of a solid regular season.

"It will be good preparation for our side not to have any easy games going into the finals," said Creagh.

"(But) however many wins or who we have beaten is going to mean absolutely nothing if we don't perform when it's crunch time.

"The next three weeks will definitely be that and hopefully a further four weeks after that will be like that as well."

The hardest thing for Creagh and the Dragons to avoid between now and the October 4 grand final is the growing chorus of Wollongong locals who are dreaming and talking of premiership success.

It is becoming almost impossible for the players to escape the hype, Creagh painfully grinning his way through an announcement linking the Dragons to the University of Wollongong on Wednesday.

Creagh, a part-time Commerce student who attends class up to seven hours per week, could only smile as UOW vice-chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton capped the new partnership by declaring: "I was there in 1999, I don't want a repeat of 1999."

The NSW forward admitted it was becoming harder to avoid the premiership talk, even moreso when it's pointed out that the club who just came off a seven-game winning streak only needs six more wins to lift the coveted trophy.

"It's a tough six in a row," he said.

"If we get six in a row that would be a dream come true."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP