St George Illawarra captain Ben Hornby says the Dragons are capable of taking the hard road to defending their NRL premiership.

In 2010, they received the benefit of the week off in the second week off the playoffs, providing the perfect preparation for their huge preliminary final match against the Wests Tigers and grand final meeting with the Sydney Roosters.

A year on and their position on the table isn't so luxurious.

The Dragons are unlikely to make the top four and an incredible run of upsets would need to transpire for them to take a rest in the middle of September.

However, Hornby said the Dragons are backing their ability, and won't be bothered by their finishing position or the challenges put before them in the finals.

"We're not worried about that too much. We're more worried about our performance," Hornby said ahead of the Dragons' round-26 clash with Penrith on Friday night.

"It's more important that you're playing well than whether you finish fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth.

"(Not having a week off has) no real impact, I don't think.

"We're all in good shape, we've got our full strength side so I think that's more important than needing weeks off.

"We're just trying to focus on our game and worry about getting the result we want and it doesn't matter where you finish. You've got to beat the good sides whether it's week one or two or three."

If St George Illawarra beat the Panthers, North Queensland lose to the Warriors and the Wests Tigers are upset by Cronulla, the Dragons will finish in fourth spot with the benefit of a home final.

But with the Tigers in top form and the Warriors hard to beat at home, the most likely scenario would have the Dragons finishing fifth and facing off against the Tigers in a blockbuster.

In snapping a five-game losing streak last week against the Warriors, the Dragons were able to get their season back on track and appeared to gain some much-needed confidence in the process.

Hornby argued the Dragons started getting on a roll the previous week in their close loss to Melbourne, but said it was important the red and whites keep the momentum going against the Panthers.

"It's just about trying to finetune your game and working on your game plan," he said.

"The last couple of weeks, we've done that pretty well so it's about trying to back that up.

"I think we got a lift out of the week before, to be honest (against the Storm). Even though we didn't win, we put in a pretty good showing and then to have this week, where we actually did win the game, was obviously quite pleasing.

"We want to keep that kind of feeling in the club.

"If we play well again this week, it's definitely a step in the right direction and we're going into the finals with some momentum.

"It's important we get a win, but it's more important we play well."

Penrith stalwarts Petero Civoniceva and Trent Waterhouse (knee injuries) are doing everything possible to prove their fitness ahead of their last match in Panthers colours.

They're expected to be given until kick-off.

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