St George Illawarra had hoped to rush de Belin back into the team for last Sunday's clash with the Knights, however those plans were dashed when Justice Melissa Perry ruled in the NRL's favour in de Belin's challenge of the no-fault stand down policy.

Dragons players have conceded the ruling was a major blow and played a role in the team's poor performance in the 45-12 drubbing, however they accept it's time to move forward.

"It was a real unknown," Injured forward Jeremy Latimore said. "Everyone was hoping he was going to get off and get back out on the field, because he was a massive part of why we played so well last year and we're missing him out on the field.

"But the court ruled in the NRLs favour, which I don't agree with the stand down policy, he's not going to be there now, we have to move on from that. Now other people get opportunities, we need to step up and take the slack from what Jack's not doing because he's not out there and really own our season."

St George Illawarra will have their first opportunity to put last week's disappointment behind them when they host the Sharks at WIN Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

After promising to make changes following the loss in Mudgee, Dragons coach Paul McGregor has named a rejigged backline for the clash.

Zac Lomax has moved to fullback, with Euan Aitken promoted from the bench to the starting centre position. Fullback Matt Dufty was named in the reserves in jumper No.21 alongside winger Mikaele Ravalawa in No.20. Ravalawa has been replaced by Jonus Pearson.

Promising hooker Reece Robson comes on to the bench, while, in perhaps the biggest gain for the side, Korbin Sims will make his return from injury, replacing Josh Kerr on the bench.

St George Illawarra have lacked grunt through the middle of the field in recent weeks, with starting props James Graham and Paul Vaughan asked to play extended minutes to help cover for the absence of de Belin and Sims.

For Graham, Sims' inclusion will provide the side a major boost against the Sharks.

Read more: De Belin case could have CRL flow-on effect

"I've seen what he can do first hand playing against him," Graham said.

"He has a high aggression rate, he's a very tough sub and hopefully he can get himself back this weekend and do the things that everyone's so excited to see him do."

While some have labelled Sunday's loss as the Dragons hitting rock bottom, Graham prefers to look at this situation as a fork in the road, it will either get better or it will get worse.

Graham is confident the team will take the first of those two options.

"We've got two choices really, you can try and make things better or try and make things worse. There's a lot worse you can go. Individually and as a group, we can try and make things better or try and make things worse.

"What I'm seeing is that I know that we're pretty hurt from the performance how we performed on Sunday. We finished our first training session today and everyone's pretty determined to turn it around."

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