A golden ticket to the NRL finals awaits St George Illawarra tomorrow.
Victory over premiers Manly at WIN Stadium will not only cement them as premiership favourites, but also mean a guaranteed berth in the play-offs, nine weeks before they start.
The ladder-leading Dragons will move to 28 competition points by overpowering the Sea Eagles, but that will automatically turn into 30 after next weekend's bye.
Full coverage of The St George Illawarra DragonsLast year the Warriors, on their stunning march to the preliminary final, finished eighth on 30 points with a for-and-against of -65.
While there will be 15 regular NRL players missing from tomorrow's clash because of State of Origin, injury, illness and suspension, Dragons winger Wendell Sailor declared there will be no shortage of incentive.
"The Sea Eagles will also be without their Origin players, it will still be a very tough game," Sailor said.
"Having been away on representative duty a lot when I was at the Broncos, I like to try and lead from the front when we're missing guys like Justin Poore and Ben Creagh.
"We have the bye next weekend, so we know it will be a massive reward for us to have a break, knowing we can come back refreshed in the push towards the finals," he added.
The Dragons will be without NSW stars Poore and Creagh, as well as Queenslanders Darius Boyd and Neville Costigan, second-rower Matt Prior (virus), Michael Weyman (ankle), Mickey Paea (virus) and Jeremy Smith (ankle).
Manly are missing Origin players Josh Perry, David Williams, Anthony Watmough and Glenn Stewart, as well as hooker Heath L'Estrange and Brett Stewart (knee) and could be without Jamie Lyon (ankle).
Dragons-Manly match guide in the Mercury's weekend edition.
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