St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennett says he never promised the Dragons a premiership, and a grand final triumph won't determine how successfully he has turned the NRL club around.

Dragons fans stand ready to anoint Bennett a true Saint if he can deliver the club a first premiership in 31 years with victory over the Sydney Roosters on Sunday.

The supercoach who won six titles with a team of superstars at Brisbane, arrived in Wollongong at the end of 2008, turning a collection of discards, local juniors and scarred veterans of previous campaigns into the competition's steeliest outfit almost overnight.

He promised steel, but not an end to a title drought stretching back to 1979 and encompassing five grand final losses, one of those since the joint venture began in 1999.

"Believe me, I'm not that stupid," Bennett told AAP.

"They asked for none and I gave none.

"All I said when I arrived here was I'd do all I can to make them a consistent football team and our record shows we are."

Two straight minor premierships in his two years at the helm attest to that, and Bennett says the long wait for Dragons fans doesn't mean extra pressure.

"I knew through consistency would come that success that everybody and fans want for their club, it doesn't happen the other way," he said.

"You don't come in with a magic wand and come up with a lot of hair-brain ideas to make everyone feel good. They might work good for two or three months."

Much of the mission is accomplished then and the 60-year-old says that will remain the case regardless of this weekend's result at ANZ Stadium.

"I said when I came here I wouldn't leave until the job was done and that didn't necessarily mean for me or the team to win a grand final," he said.

"My goal was to give the administrators and the board and fans a club they could be proud of.

"The big criticism of this club by all and sundry was that they were inconsistent and they didn't know what they were going to dish up on any given weekend.

"We're on that road now, we've done it two years in a row."

Bennett gives next to nothing away about his plans beyond the end of next year when his contract expires, or even whether the result on Sunday will change them.

But he admits it's taken the unwavering support of his family to get through his move to Wollongong while they remained in Queensland.

"I'm away for 10 months but it's worked because I have a wife who is totally unselfish and is happy to see I am doing what I want to do (rather) than having me at home being grumpy and cranky," he said.

"My coaching career is coming to an end, it's a matter of when, two, three, five years, I don't know.

"It's not another 20 years in front of us and she accepts that.

"I do get home at times and I keep myself pretty busy, that's the key.

"The worst days are when you sit around and do nothing, they're the toughest days."

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