St George Illawarra and Newcastle went a long way towards shaking off unwanted tags after round six of the National Rugby League.

The Dragons beat premiers Penrith 44-18 at WIN Stadium to notch their third consecutive victory, with centre Matt Cooper bagging four tries on his 25th birthday.

The Knights went down 22-32 to the Sydney Roosters in their first home match of the year, but did enough to suggest they will be a force without skipper Andrew Johns.

St George Illawarra has been guilty in the past of beating quality sides but losing to lower ones and next week will prove whether they're the real deal when they clash with the Roosters at Aussie Stadium.

The Dragons have not won four in a row since 2000.

"Our big thing is consistency," said Dragons coach Nathan Brown.

"We've got the Roosters next week and they're a terrific side.

"As the year goes on we'll get some idea (whether we're premiership contenders) but we're just hoping to put ourselves in a position to do well at the end of the year.

"But obviously we're playing with a bit of confidence at the moment."

The Knights faithful went home broken-hearted after Test hopeful Ben Kennedy strained his hamstring before the Roosters clinched victory with a try on the final bell to winger Anthony Minichiello, following a controversial call by referee Tim Mander.

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