St George Illawarra's thrilling start to the National Rugby League season was tarnished when experienced forward Lance Thompson was fined and dropped for disciplinary reasons.

Thompson, who was given a 12-day break from training last month to take care of personal problems, has been named in the Premier League squad for their clash with the Central Comets in Rockhampton on Saturday night.

His axing comes less than 72 hours after the Dragons kicked off the season in style, demolishing South Sydney in the Charity Shield at Aussie Stadium.

"I can say that he has been relegated to Premier League," Doust said.

"He has been dropped ... for disciplinary reasons."

Thompson's manager Darryl Mather said the City Origin forward, who turned 26 on Monday, had accepted his punishment and was intent on fighting his way back into first grade.

"It's not related to the incident of a couple of weeks ago," Mather said.

"Lance has been a pro about it and we know there are standards in place.

"He has been accepting of it.

"We hope that he can put this little hiccup behind him and get back in the frame for round one."

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