St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hornby says it will be a case of safety in numbers as the Dragons look to stop Canterbury sensation Jamal Idris steamrolling his way to a NSW Origin jumper on Friday night.

With the carrot of a Blues debut being dangled before him, Idris is potentially just one more dominant performance away from having his name read out by NSW selectors on Monday night, and has fellow Origin hopeful Matt Cooper and Hornby in his sights.

Cooper and Hornby will line up on the left edge opposite Idris when the ladder-leading Dragons take on the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium on Friday night, Hornby admitting the defensive task was no one-man assignment.

"He's a big bloke who's obviously strong and quick - they're always hard to handle," Hornby said.

"I think you've got to try and stay away from that fend as much as possible, but I don't think you can leave it up to one bloke, you've got to try and get a few blokes around the ball if you can."

Asked about the mouth-watering prospect of Idris and Cooper slugging it out for an Origin berth, Hornby said:

"I think Jamal against anyone at the moment is a fair clash.

"Obviously Coops is a great defensive player, we'll be out there doing our best trying to chop him down."

Seen as a fringe NSW candidate just a matter of weeks ago, Idris stormed right into reckoning with a powerful display for Country Origin last Friday night.

He is seen as NSW's answer to Queensland star Greg Inglis, with Hornby admitting bringing down Idris' 115kg, 194cm frame was just as daunting a task.

"I think Greg's a little bit more elusive as in he doesn't want to run at you whereas Jamal would rather just run over the top of you," Hornby said.

The Dragons are coming off a 24-6 loss to Manly last week, but have been boosted by the return of Test duo Michael Weyman and Jason Nightingale who were late withdrawals from the clash with the Sea Eagles.

The Bulldogs are outside the top eight and have lost three of their last five, while they will still have bad memories of their last meeting with the Dragons in round two when Test winger Brett Morris scored a hat-trick in a 26-6 win.

But Hornby conceded the Bulldogs would be a much tougher prospect this time around.

"I think they're going a lot better - obviously they've got some key players back, Michael Ennis (suspension) didn't play the last time we played, he's obviously going to be a big addition for them," Hornby said.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP