It may have been a different story for red v fans who were probably a little more nervous with the scores locked at 18-all with 11 minutes to play. 

Even after livewire fullback Matt Dufty produced arguably the best individual try of the season for a 24-18 lead, memories of a golden-point loss to the Raiders last season may well have tempered the joy.

The fact that loss proved one of the final nails in their side's playoffs coffin may also have been in the back of their minds, even when Gareth Widdop nailed a field goal for a seven-point buffer four minutes from time.

He saw enough from his side last year to share those misgivings but, in marked contrast to last season, McGregor said he always felt confident his side would get home.

"The sign of a good side is winning when you're not at your best and we did enough today to win which is very pleasing," McGregor said.

"We were thinking the correct state of mind with our execution at times was a little bit off. We were happy to get the two points, certainly we'll take a lot of today and move forward into a really tough game next week against Penrith.

"We bounced back after a loss for the second time this year so that's pretty important. I thought the control the boys had at different stages when we got some good field position was very good.

"I never thought we'd lose the game, but it was challenging at times when we continued to give the opposition opportunity through ourselves a little bit."

The belief his side is never out of a game isn't entirely misplaced when you can bank on the individual brilliance of players like Dufty, whose scintillating effort all but sealed the win.

Dufty also had a hand in a brilliant team try to Widdop, kicking ahead for his captain for his captain's 48^th minute try, shrugging off some early errors, including the one that opened the door for Nick Cotric's third-minute four-pointer.

"He came up with a few errors but it was great to see he didn't go into becoming quiet,” McGregor said.

"For a young bloke that's really pleasing because he's still learning his craft at fullback. Sometimes when you're a young guy, in the week to week rigours of the NRL, when you come up with a couple of errors you can go quiet, but I think Duft really grew and got us back in the game through sheer brilliance.

“[He had] a couple of errors, a couple of tries, so it was a mixed day, but he certainly brings a point of difference with that speed.”

Jack de Belin and Joey Leilua traded tries in the first half after Cotric's opener, with two penalty goals to Widdop seeing the scores level at 10 apiece at halftime.

The Dragons led 18-12 after Widdop's try before the Raiders leveled up through another long-range effort to Jordan Rapana. It gave them a sniff before Dufty's solo show sealed the deal.