D-day has finally arrived for St George Illawarra, who will find out late Saturday night whether they learned anything from last year's disastrous NRL finals exit.

Twelve months after a dominant regular season amounted to nothing when the Dragons were bounced out of the finals with back-to-back losses, the red and whites again stand at the precipice of death or glory.

Standing in their way are Wests Tigers in a preliminary final at ANZ Stadium before an expected 70,000 fans.

"At the end of the day, we're going to be judged on our performances, so we'll live and die by that," captain Ben Hornby said.

"There's pressure on everyone. If you lose you're out - I don't think the pressure's any more on us than it is on anyone else."

That however would be ignoring the sense of expectation that now accompanies the Dragons.

They have been far and away the best side in the competition the past two years - and no matter the size of your rose-coloured glasses - to not make it to at least one grand final in that time would be an abject failure.

Their 2010 regular-season campaign has almost mirrored last year's efforts, with the only difference being that version two was slightly more impressive.

Hornby believes the Dragons have made subtle changes which have the minor premiers better prepared mentally and physically this year after fighting fatigue at the end of 2009.

This year, the Dragons have arrived at the business end of the season fresh and ready for their finals assault.

When Hornby and fellow playmakers Jamie Soward and Dean Young run out on Saturday night, the trio will have played just one game each in almost a month.

All three were given the night off in the round-26 win over South Sydney, while the whole squad enjoyed a free weekend last week courtesy of their 28-0 qualifying final romp over Manly.

The fear of being underdone is there, but if the Dragons can get into their groove over the opening 20 minutes and be in the game at the hour mark, there is a feeling they will power home.

In stark contrast to the Dragons' rested build-up, the Tigers have had to endure a torrid finals series.

A 100-minute epic against the Sydney Roosters in which they gave up a 15-2 lead with 18 minutes remaining was followed by a tense 26-24 win over Canberra in a game they led 24-12 just short of the hour mark.

Their players are tired, battered and bruised - prop Todd Payten the latest casualty after damaging ankle ligaments - but coach Tim Sheens denied his side needed a sizeable lead to cling to late in the contest.

"I don't think it's an issue at all," Sheens said of the fade-outs.

"I don't believe it's been a lack of intensity, although it's hard to keep 80 minutes of flat out football. You'll always have your ups and downs but that sometimes swings with possession."

Either way, the Dragons are preparing for a war of attrition.

"The longer the game goes, fatigue can play a part," Hornby said.

"We're confident that if we can keep it close for long enough we'll be right in the match."

Veteran John Skandalis is expected to come onto the bench to replace Payten, with Bryce Gibbs set to start as he did against Canberra, while the Dragons will be without interchange forward Jarrod Saffy due to a quad injury.

Saffy's spot on the bench will go to Jon Green.

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