It might have taken until halfway though the NRL season and it didn't result in a win, but Parramatta have finally started playing the way new coach Stephen Kearney wants them to.

Matched-up against competition heavyweights St George Illawarra, the Eels produced their most disciplined display of 2011 to walk away with a 14-all draw after extra time against the reigning premiers.

The Eels 'out-Dragoned' the Dragons as they controlled possession and waited for the opposition to make a mistake. Their defence over the closing quarter of the match, as the visitors pressed hard for the match-winner, made it seem like the two sides had traded jumpers.

"Consistently for 90 minutes or so it was what we're after," Kearney said of the performance.

"I think we've seen that for parts of games this year, but I just thought it was a well-rounded performance for the entire match.

"When you play them, you've got to be up for it. We learnt that lesson (when the Eels lost 30-0 in round eight).

"I thought we tried really hard the last time we played them, we just dropped off for a 15-minute period and they put 20 points on us.

"That's the biggest challenge in our game at the moment, coming up against the Dragons, so you need to be ready when you play."

The one competition point will see the Eels finish the weekend three points outside the top eight ahead of next weekend's bye, with the following two weeks on the road against Manly and Canberra likely to define their season.

The Dragons had the best of the chances to snatch a late win, with their best ruined by a poor play-the-ball from rookie Jack Bosden, pulled up for not facing the opposition goalline as he rolled the ball between his legs.

His pain worsened as he watched teammate Jamie Soward Soward pilot his field goal over the posts, as referee Ashley Klein blew the penalty.

"The boys called for a quick play the ball - I was just rushing to my feet," Bosden said of the play.

"Once I played the ball and looked up, I was looking at the grandstand so I knew I'd stuffed up.

"He ended up slotting it so that probably would have won us the game. It was pretty disappointing knowing that. We could have had two points instead of one."

Soward refused to heap blame on Bosden.

"That's footy - poor Jack will probably do his head in over it but he played good tonight," Soward said.

"He had a few good hit-ups and he'll learn from that."

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