With the ink barely dry on a rich four-year deal, the discarded Raider proved why the blue and whites plotted to snatch the NSW fullback from under the Dragons' noses as he helped spark St George Illawarra to life.

But even Dugan, whose highlight reel included scoring and saving tries as well as a couple of shaky conversions, was powerless to halt a second-half Bulldogs blitz which yielded 31 unanswered points for a 39-20 win.

It means those Red V fans clinging to the abacus and the hope of a finals miracle can finally flip the calendar in anticipation of better days in 2014.

"At 20-8 up we started to play like a footy team that was behind and that was the most frustrating thing," Dragons coach Steve Price bristled. "We started to throw balls out of our arse, as opposed to playing field position and kicking long.

"We didn't play with any smarts at all in that back part of the second half which is disappointing."

And that meant St George Illawarra were under siege, with wrecking balls Tony Williams and Sam Kasiano lumbering over for doubles in between a long-range Josh Morris try. Thirty-one points at better than a point a minute and the Bulldogs' title charge was well and truly back on track.

Not that Canterbury coach Des Hasler was expecting to just turn up and roll over St George Illawarra, who eventually halted their scoring drought at Kogarah at 203 minutes after Dugan's first touchdown.

"I said in the media conference earlier this week, I think St George have been playing well," Hasler said. "They're pretty aggressive the way they carry the ball.

"They get good starts to their set with the back three and he's a good smart young coach, Steve Price. We always knew they were going to be really competitive here."

After the Bulldogs ambled to an early 8-0 lead against an error-prone Dragons, Dugan produced two individual moments of magic to fire St George Illawarra to a two-point half-time lead.

He then helped lay on Jason Nightingale's four-pointer to open the second stanza with a sumptuous flick pass for Nathan Green and even used his boot to dislodge the ball when a certain Dale Finucane try beckoned. But the Bulldogs finally woke from their slumber and blew the Dragons away.

Skipper Michael Ennis added: "The real pleasing thing for me at this time of the year is you like to get the two points, but you also like to be tested and find ways to get yourselves out of trouble like we did [Monday night].

"There was a real energy shift from our boys and we started to get it together which was really pleasing."

Quizzed on what he wants his side to achieve over the final five rounds with little more than pride to play for, Price said: "It's about competing hard and having a bit of pride in our performance.

"There are periods in [Monday night's] game where we are really good at that, but it's about sustaining it for 80 minutes. That's our challenge."

Price said he expected to have Michael Weyman (neck) fit for Sunday's trip to Brisbane, while other late withdrawals Chase Stanley (quadriceps) and Bronson Harrison (knee) will be assessed later in the week.

CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS 39 (Tony Williams 2, Sam Kasiano 2, Trent Hodkinson, Josh Jackson, Josh Morris tries; Hodkinson 5 goals, field goal) defeated ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 20 (Josh Dugan 2, Jason Nightingale, Daniel Vidot tries, Dugan 2 goals) at WIN Jubilee Oval. Referee: Henry Perenara, Gerard Sutton. Crowd: 12,846.