St George Illawarra travel to Newcastle on Saturday, where the second and third worst attacking records of the past decade will face off.

After 15 rounds, the Dragons have managed 179 points, but Newcastle – anchored to the bottom of the ladder – have a meagre total of just 162.

Only the Sharks team of 2014 has scored fewer points, with 155 after 15 rounds in a season where they had the ASADA supplements scandal hanging over the heads.

However, hope remains for the Dragons. Parramatta are the only one of the seven teams to have scored less than 200 at this point of the season and make the finals.

In 2009, inspired by Hayne, the Eels won seven in a row to finish eighth, then marched on to the NRL grand final, losing to Melbourne, who were later stripped of the premiership for salary cap breaches.

Along the way they thrashed minor premiers the Dragons, remembered for Hayne’s untouchable run to score.

In their last 11 games before finals, the Eels scored 30 or more on five occasions, piling on 296 points to qualify.

Coach Paul McGregor confirmed Dugan would return as the Dragons have the chance to sharpen their attack against the struggling Knights and Sea Eagles, before their second bye.

“He was very close [to playing against Melbourne] he’ll play next week. There’s no doubting that,” McGregor said after beating the Storm.

“He could possibly have played [for NSW] on Wednesday night if he was selected … but I’m happy to have him available for next Saturday night. He’s a marquee player and you need them in your football team because they’re your backbone.”

Kurt Mann has a share of the Dragons top try-scorer rankings with four in the past three games. Jason Nightingale, Euan Aitken, Gareth Widdop and Kalifa Fai Fai Loa also have four tries each. Dugan has one.