The Dragons scored almost twice as many tries as they had the previous two weeks, when they crossed the line a collective three times to beat Manly and Newcastle in consecutive games.

The mastermind behind much of the attacking flair was Kiwi international Benji Marshall, who set up two tries and looked constantly threatening near the line with the ball in his hand.

Halves partner Gareth Widdop also enjoyed a big game and slotted every conversion thrown at him, as well as kicking the grubber to set young centre Euan Aitken up to score late in the game.

It was a big win for the Red V but it didn't all go their way.

The Dragons were dealt a blow before kick-off as winger Jason Nightingale limped from the field during warm-up and was forced to withdraw just minutes before the siren, being replaced by Peter Mata'utia.

The Bulldogs looked to have scored early when Sam Perrett ran through a hole and crossed the line, only for Josh Dugan to make a superb tackle, helped by Tyson Frizell, to hold up his opposite number in-goal.

Mata'utia followed up by calmly taking the kick in-goal under pressure on the next play.

In the 10th minute Mitch Rein threw a sharp ball from dummy half to hit Josh Dugan on the chest and isolate him one-on-one with Josh Morris, as Dugan crashed over to score.

Widdop converted to hand the Dragons a 6-0 advantage.

Dragons centre Dylan Farrell blew what would have been a remarkable try just seconds later, when he failed to ground a deft kick by Widdop which would have taken them to a 10-0 lead.

Widdop burst into space on the back of a Dugan flick pass and managed to get boot to ball, setting Farrell up for what should have been the try of the game.

The Bulldogs were afforded a glut of possession for much of the first half but were continually thwarted by some strong St George Illawarra defence as well as their own clumsiness.

The Dragons extended their lead in the 34th minute when Marshall threw a pinpoint cut-out pass to Mata'utia to put the rookie winger over in the corner.

Widdop converted to take the scoreboard to 12-0.

Just three minutes later Marshall pulled off another classy pass to hit Tyson Frizell and send him crashing over the line, and the Dragons led 18-0 at the break.

The Bulldogs had four consecutive sets inside their attacking 30m to start the second half thanks to one penalty and two Dragons' dropped balls.

Still, the Red V defence prove impenetrable until Josh Morris bust through and planted the ball down in the 49th minute to take the score to 18-6.

The game was stopped for several minutes when Bulldogs forward Tim Browne was hit high by Tyson Frizell and had to leave the ground in the medicab.

Frizell was placed on report, despite chants from the crowd asking referee Ben Cummins to send the backrower off the field.

The Bulldogs were clearly fired up but couldn't take advantage of the ensuing set, and a Perrett knock-on just 10m out from his defensive line soon after handed the Dragons the next points.

Joel Thompson barged is way over to score off a Gareth Widdop assist and the lead stretched to 24-6.

Marshall slotted a field goal in the 67th minute for good measure, and rookie centre Aitken pounced on a deft Widdop grubber soon after to put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.

It marked a fourth successive victory for the Dragons in front of a "home" crowd of 20,273.

They take on Brisbane at Kogarah on Friday.