St George Illawarra proved yet again that nobody does the grind better than the red and whites after the NRL ladder leaders resisted an early Canterbury onslaught to run out 19-6 winners at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.

The Dragons were made to look second rate early as the Bulldogs burst out of the gate, but the visitors were just warming to the task as they ran in three unanswered tries before a Jamie Soward field goal sealed the result with 11 minutes on the clock.

Before a crowd of 37,773 - the biggest for an NRL match in Sydney this season - the Bulldogs showed there would be no rustiness from the bye as Josh Morris whizzed over in just the fourth minute for a 6-0 lead.

The Bulldogs were up for it in both attack and defence with two Jamal Idris bell ringers on Ben Creagh giving NSW selectors the proof that the Canterbury youngster was more than ready for an Origin call-up.

The Dragons were out on their feet before a crucial ruck penalty changed the momentum of not only the match, but possibly the Bulldogs' season, with the blue and whites now with just three wins from the opening ten rounds and facing plenty of work to do to secure a finals berth.

From the penalty Creagh got some revenge on Idris when he outleapt his taller opponent and juggled the ball to level the scores, before Dene Halatau's spilled ball with his first touch in five weeks presented the Dragons with another invitation.

Ben Hornby accepted it with open arms as he dummied his way through the defensive line, the ball eventually finding Jason Nightingale out wide, Soward's sideline conversion completing an epic reversal of fortunes.

There was more to come after the break, even after rookie Trent Merrin dropped the ball two metres out from a wide open line, but the red and white faithful didn't have to wait long to start singing when a Brett Kimmorley clearing kick went horribly wrong.

Picking up the ball on his own 10 metre line, Brett Morris - who in a rare instance was kept tryless for the game - popped a risky ball to Nightingale who fed Darius Boyd, the likely Queensland Origin winger swinging round to find Hornby who in turn set up Matt Cooper on a run down the touchline.

Cooper, who needed a big game to get himself into NSW reckoning, beat Idris and Luke Patten as he tiptoed the sideline before touching down with a kiss of the jersey.

Dragons coach Wayne Bennett praised his side's resilience, while also saving a special mention for Cooper who took a points win in his one-on-one battle with Idris.

"The try he scored was the Matt Cooper we hadn't seen for a long time," Bennett said.

"He was involved in the game, that was the key thing ... he's been playing great football.

"They were playing all over us early and we had pull our way back in and we did that.

"Some days it doesn't start the way you want it to - we didn't panic, we just stayed at it."

Cooper said he was hopeful rather than expectant of having his name read out for Origin I on Monday.

"Come Monday afternoon it's going to be pretty exciting - hopefully I make it, I'd love to be out there," Cooper said.

"I missed last year, that hurt, especially being part of three losing series prior to that, seeing the boys get beat last year was a bad feeling.

"There's talk about me being there - as long as I'm playing good footy I've got a shot."

On the other side Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore urged caution in rushing Idris into the Origin arena.

"His form's been really good over the last 4-6 weeks - I'm of the belief that if he gets an opportunity he won't let people down," Moore said.

"As his club coach I would probably think 12 months down the track he'll be really ready for it."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP