Dragons vow to keep fighting

Ahead of only cellar dwellers Parramatta on the current standings, the Red V are staring down the barrel of missing the finals in consecutive seasons for the first time in joint venture's history.

The last time the Dragons failed to feature in the post-season in two straight years was 1990-91.

But more startlingly there's the prospect of being dragged into the wooden-spoon fight, a dubious honour the St George Dragons haven't claimed since 1938.

So the prospect of a rampant Sonny Bill Williams-led Sydney Roosters riding into Kogarah for the season-defining clash next Saturday night won't exactly be a welcome one.

But their band of straight-talking hard heads refused to throw in the towel on a season fast being blighted by what ifs and maybes.

"We're running out of next weeks and I guess the opportunity for us, if we want to feature in the back end of the year, is really now," halfback Nathan Fien said after the Panthers subdued the Dragons 25-10 at Centrebet Stadium on Saturday night.

"The effort was definitely there, but we can't keep saying that all year though. We're starting to run out of next weeks. There has probably been five or six games similar to [Saturday] night which we were right in and possibly could have went on and won.

"We're going to have to seize the opportunity against the Roosters next week and we really need those two points. We've got to play as desperate as what we have done over the last few weeks, but we're going to have to be a bit more clinical."

The Dragons slipped four points adrift of top eight entrants Penrith after the four tries-to-two defeat at the foot of the mountains and will get no relief over the next month.

Either side of having their second bye, the Red V will play top-four contending Roosters (home), Rabbitohs (away) and the Bulldogs (home), as well as hosting chief tormentor Canberra.

But Dragons prop Michael Weyman, fresh from a season-high 54 minutes against the Panthers, refuses to hit the panic button yet.

"By no means is our season finished," he said. "There's still 10 games of footy left in the regular season. We've got a bye there as well, so by no means are we writing the season off.

"We're just going to roll the sleeves up. We're a little bit deeper now I suppose, but we just need to dig it out.

"I guess with our mateship and our will to work, it's going to happen. There's a few things with our execution we need to sort out, [but] no-one points the finger, we just keep rolling with it and it's going to come good for us."

If being sucked into the basement battle wasn't bad enough, the Dragons also racked up the unwanted statistic of losing to Penrith twice in the same season for the first time.

The Panthers embarrassed the Dragons - holding them scoreless for the first time in their history at Kogarah - in a 19-0 win last month.

Mid-season recruit Josh Dugan will be even more sick of the sight of Ivan Cleary's men, losing to them for the third time this season. His only match with the Raiders before being shown the door earlier this season was a loss to Penrith.

Dragons coach Steve Price said there was "no simple formula" for turning around their fortunes, but refused to concede their finals hopes were beyond salvaging.

"It's getting back to basics and working extremely hard," Price said. "We need to mark ourselves as individuals and a playing group a lot harder than what we are at the moment. It's the only way to get out of it.

"Time is running out, but in saying that one thing about our footy club is we won't be throwing up that [white] flag."