It makes for an eye-catching contrast. 

The hallowed halls and history of the SCG being occupied by the exuberant inner-sanctum of a rowdy St George Illawarra squad, coaching and support staff and the corporate types eager to be part of it. 

In particular, Nathan Fien is figuratively bouncing off the walls - and with good reason.

Fien has just played his first NRL game since round one when he broke his ankle and the Dragons have just snapped a five-game Roosters winning streak.

In the process launching what would be a run of seven wins in eight games to secure a drought-breaking premiership, beating the Roosters 32-8 in the grand final.

Before Fien's return, the Dragons had the wobbles, losing three of their past four and while they were still on top of the ladder, the serious doubt of past failures was creeping in amongst the fanbase again.

Fien, now Collegians coach in the Illawarra competition, had played a key role as a bench utility, winning eight of the nine games he played that season, only succumbing to the dreaded Canberra curse.

He scored a try in the grand final and generally provided spark with pace and vision around dummy-half, a perfect offset to the iron-willed determination of hooker and lock Dean Young, who was probably the Dragons best player in the finals series.

Fast forward to last Thursday night and Gareth Widdop is in agony as another dislocated shoulder strikes.

Injured in round three, the Dragons will be mapping out a program to have Widdop return in August. 

Widdop is the captain and leader, but the Dragons are better prepared to handle his absence with Matt Dufty a year older and Corey Norman a valuable ball-player and left-footed kicker. Of course, Game On isn't suggesting the Dragons will lead the competition all year, as they did from round five onwards in 2010.

The Roosters are clearly the benchmark, after dishing out a hiding to Brisbane on Thursday night.

But if coach Paul McGregor can make the Dufty-Norman-Hunt-McInnes combination successful, then Widdop's return late in the season could yet still make an impact.

And there is a sense of timing - perhaps even fate - that Widdop could have an influence in September before flying home to England.

"Gareth won't be far from everything that happens this year," McGregor said.

"Even though he won't be on the football, he'll be highly involved in and around training and the coaching side of it.

"He'll be ready when he does come back, that'll be an important boost at an important time."