They may not be back quite yet, but as coach Wayne Bennett acknowledged, St George Illawarra are at least headed in the right direction after the NRL premiers broke through for a 26-22 win over the Warriors.

Having watched his side's title defence slide perilously close to oblivion on the back of five straight losses, Bennett saw enough at WIN Stadium on Sunday to suggest all may not be lost in 2011.

It was a long way from the methodical machine that obliterated sides last year and during the first half of this year's campaign, but this was a game more about the result than the method.

"I wouldn't say we're back yet, but at least we're going forward again," said Bennett, the win keeping alive the Dragons' slim top four hopes heading into the last round.

"They got a lot of confidence out of (an 8-6 loss to) Melbourne last week but they needed to win here today and that's what they've done, so that's the best thing we've done.

"There were good moments and some indifferent but they've got a win .. that's what they needed to feel again, what it's like to win."

And their desperation was evident right up until the final whistle, when Jamie Soward slotted a simple penalty goal as time wound down.

Memories of the last-second loss to Canberra in round 20 - the start of their slide - were still fresh.

"I told (Soward) to take his time there just so they wouldn't get the kick-off, we didn't want a repeat of Canberra," centre Matt Cooper said.

"It was good to see us finish the game off there in the last minutes.

"They had a couple of shots there on our line and I think our defence held up really well, that's what won us the game in the end."

The early signs weren't good for the Dragons when consecutive kick-offs from Ben Hornby sallied over the dead ball line to gift the Warriors possession and field position - which they converted to a 10-0 lead after as many minutes.

The Dragons responded when Mark Gasnier went over after a Beau Scott offload, but there was enough time for the referees to boil the kettle before the NSW Origin forward got his pass away.

"It looked like everyone else around the play thought it was held," Warriors coach Ivan Cleary lamented.

"It was like a game you play in the park and everyone knows when it's held, but you've got to play the whistle haven't you."

The Dragons levelled via a Brett Morris trapeze act but the Warriors were back out by the break when Kevin Locke - who had beaten seven players in scoring a sizzling early try - fed a Feleti Mateo offload for Bill Tupou to score.

Mateo's next offload didn't work out too well as Darius Boyd scored his first try in Wollongong for the red and whites, and when they had another 10 minutes later there were signs the Dragons of old were back on show.

Mateo made amends for his earlier error when Gasnier shot up out of the line to open up a hole he ran into to set up a thrilling finish, the Dragons and the majority of the 15,732 home fans a relieved lot when the hooter finally sounded.

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