He is the most capped Dragon in the club's proud history, but former skipper Ben Hornby has admitted it's only a matter of time before his successor Ben Creagh usurps him.

Hornby (273 games), now a member of the Dragons' coaching set-up, was joined by 1963 grand final-winning captain Norm Provan (256) and recent retiree Matt Cooper (243) yesterday.

The trio were promoting the 50th anniversary clash of the muddy epic between Provan's St George and Arthur Summons' Wests, which will be played at the SCG today.

And Hornby, who led the Dragons to the 2010 premiership, ending a 31-year title drought, said it was only a matter of time before Creagh (221) passed all three of the club's most-capped players.

"I'm sure there will be someone else coming after that as well," Hornby said. "Players are playing first grade so young these days and they can play for a lot longer.

"I'll hold the record for as long as I can hold it and I'm proud to hold it, but at the end of the day someone will pass it at some stage."

Provan stopped by to speak to the Dragons' squad before he and Summons were the special guests of honour at an Illawarra Cutters event.

It didn't take him long to get the attention of the struggling Dragons, who can ensure the wooden spoon won't be headed Wollongong way with a win over the second-from-bottom Tigers.

"He's obviously got that great aura which all great people have," Hornby said. "Everyone that hears him talk just sits there and listens, trying to take in as much as they can from him.

"Any time Norm can come down and give the boys a lift I think it's great for us and great for the club.

"Injuries have been our biggest drama this year so we've been able to give a lot of blokes an opportunity they might not have got.

"On top of that we've bought a lot of quality players so we've been close this year, we just haven't been able to win any of the close games, to be honest. That's something we've still got to learn."

Meanwhile, the Dragons moved swiftly to add depth in the centres after Cooper's retirement by inking Newcastle's Peter Mata'utia to a two-year deal yesterday.

Mata'utia will jockey for a centre position in 2014 alongside Souths recruit Dylan Farrell, Charly Runciman and Nathan Green.

Chase Stanley is yet to make a decision on his future.

The Dragons also snapped up Roosters-contracted prop Josh Ailaomai on a one-year deal for next season.