Spurred on by those who doubted he could play first-grade, Jamie Soward has led St George Illawarra to a spirited 11-4 win over Brisbane in the NRL match at Oki Jubilee Stadium - just three days after switching from the Sydney Roosters.

Soward, 22, had a hand in everything as the Dragons made the most of a back injury that forced Broncos playmaker Darren Lockyer off the field in the 24th minute, to bounce back from last week's thrashing by Canberra.

The result brought the premiers crashing back to earth after their 71-6 thrashing of Newcastle last Sunday and helped ease the pressure on besieged Dragons coach Nathan Brown.

Soward was dangerous in attack, lethal with the boot and had a hand in both of the Dragons' tries before sealing the win with a field goal two minutes from full-time.

First-half tries to Josh Morris and Jason Nightingale set up the win while winger Steve Michaels scored Brisbane's only four-pointer early in the match.

Soward revelled in the change of scene and signalled his intentions to continue proving his doubters wrong.

"I'm looking forward just to settling down now and hopefully playing first grade for the rest of the year, just proving to all the people that have doubted me - saying that I can't tackle and I won't play first grade," said Soward, whose only start for the Roosters this year came last week against the Sharks.

"I'm looking forward to proving them wrong and just do it for myself."

The Dragons had to overcome a lengthy injury list of their own, which included Dean Young, Brett Morris and Ben Hornby, and fielded a highly inexperienced side, although they were boosted with the late inclusion of prop Jason Ryles, who recovered from a knee injury.

They led 10-4 at half-time and defended gallantly to hold on in a second half where just the lone point was scored, Morris also outstanding for the home side.

Brown was delighted, believing his side played well above their position on the table.

"We played like there was no pressure on us, we looked like we enjoyed it and obviously our kicking game was super," Brown said.

"When Jamie turned up it was a breath of fresh air to the players and for the first time this year, for a long time, we had some halves that had a real dash about them. They had some threat."

Lockyer was forced off with suspected soft tissue damage to his back after copping a knee from Dragons substitute Adam Peek.

The Queensland captain was confident the injury wouldn't rule him out for State of Origin II in Sydney on Wednesday week.

"They (doctors) don't think there's any sort of rip dramas there. It's just soft tissue," Lockyer said.

"I would like to have got back out there but I would have been a passenger, I think."

Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett declared he was "past disappointed" and becoming angry with the Broncos' form this season.

"We can't back anything up," he lamented.

"We've won four games this season and every time we come out the next week we're somewhere like we were tonight, which is very uncharacteristic of us."

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