Mark Gasnier's much hyped NRL return failed to inspire St George Illawarra to victory on Monday night, the Dragons falling 12-8 to Penrith with both sides depleted for their top of the table clash.

In a dour arm wrestle played in greasy conditions at WIN Jubilee Oval, the spotlight remained firmly on Gasnier, who had last played in the NRL 661 days ago, despite the Panthers' win in front of 12,974 fans.

The 28-year-old received a rousing reception from the Dragons flag-waving faithful, who had come up with one banner reading "OrGAZmic" for the occasion.

Wearing the unfamiliar No.20 jersey, the former Test star was injected from the bench to play right centre in the 26th minute.

There were flashes of the brilliance - a sidestep here, a flick pass there - which made him a league star and earned him a lucrative contract with French rugby union side Stade Francais.

He also dropped one cold as the Dragons mounted a final attacking raid in an attempt to snatch a last gasp win with his side looking to the new attacking weapon on their right side.

The Panthers joined St George Illawarra at the top of the NRL ladder with the win, which snapped a six-game losing streak against the red and whites.

Most of the action in the first half hour had centred on Gasnier's elaborate stretching regime on the sideline.

Once into the action, he hovered around the play the ball desperate for a nerve-relieving first touch and showed some trademark lightning fast footwork when he took a run two minutes later only to be smashed by Penrith's Matthew Bell and Travis Burns.

Both sides were without four State of Origin representatives but it was the Panthers, also without injured halfback Luke Walsh, who handled the absences the better.

Wade Graham caught the St George Illawarra defence napping and slipped over under the posts in the 21st minute, Lachlan Coote converting for 6-0.

The scoreline remained the same until the 65th minute when Coote knocked over a penalty goal before the Dragons sent winger Kalifa Fai-Fai Loa over out wide with a clever short side play.

Penrith sealed the win when winger David Simmons grabbed a bomb to touch down in the 75th minute before Loa completed a double in the 79th.

Forward pass rulings denied the Dragons tries in each half.

In bad news for the Panthers, prop Tim Grant suffered a suspected broken leg.

"He's got a long way to go," Dragons coach Wayne Bennett said of Gasnier.

And, asked how far that was before he would be back to his best, the club's prodigal son agreed.

"A fair way I think," Gasnier said.

"I'm not going to kid myself in that regard.

"You've just got to work hard and start all over again and get back there.

"I don't think you can pinpoint a time but probably until I feel comfortable again, when it becomes second nature."

For Gasnier, unlike his team-mates, this weekend's bye will come at the worst possible time.

"Obviously a couple of dropped balls there at the end wasn't a happy finish but nothing fancy (and) nothing out of the ordinary," was how he summed up his game.

"I just wanted to get involved as much as I could.

"The game probably didn't flow as far as expansive football (goes) but I guess that suited the conditions."

Captain Ben Hornby said Gasnier could expect more of the close attention he received in some early bone-crushing tackles.

"He's going to have to deal with that for a couple of weeks," Hornby said.

"I'm sure other teams will want to get stuck into him."

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