Against South Sydney three weeks ago it was a 71^st minute charge-down and chase that put his side ahead with five minutes left, only for a final-second try to rip the Dragons heart out.

On Sunday, with the scores locked at 12 apiece, it was a stunning one-on-one tackle on Sharks centre Bronson Xerri that denied the Rookie of the Year favourite a go-ahead try with nine minutes to play.

Chad Townsend shanked an attempted field goal two rucks later and it looked like McInnes' luck might finally have changed, only for Xerri to cross with five minutes left and hand the Dragons their 11^th loss in their last 14 games.

There was literally a fingernail in it, with the bunker taking several looks to determine Wade Graham didn't touch the bounce off a Shaun Johnson bomb that ultimately fell into the arms of Xerri for the match-winner.

It was 50-50, but those odds haven't favoured the Dragons this season. For his part, McGregor was convinced Graham got a touch on the ball - for the record so was Graham - but he wasn't blaming the call for the loss.

"You could see [the touch], it changed the direction of the ball straight away. I think they [knew it] to on the field because they didn't move too far and they were having a chat about it," McGregor said.

"It comes down to a bounce of and ball and OK Wade touched it, he's been honest about it which is good but, [we need to] make the stop. That's the most disappointing thing.

"We haven't had a lot go for us this year and that was a bit out of our control but there were a lot of other things in the game we could've done a lot better.

"I'm obviously frustrated about the result when we could've done a little bit more ourselves to get the win. I'm not going to lie on that decision from the referee, but that's what I'm disappointed about.

"To be in the fight again until the last four minutes is a credit to how hard they're doing things for one another but there's a lot of other things in the game where we need to get better.

"There's been times this year where I couldn't really manage who we had available but I think we've got enough available that we can beat anyone.

"With Gareth back in the side and a few [other] players available we're good footy team but I'm disappointed in some of the footy out there today."

It came after makeshift halfback Luciano Leilua, who shifted to the scrum base after his side lost Ben Hunt to an HIA early in the second half, scored to lock things up at 12-all.

It followed the early departure of Sharks fullback Matt Moylan, who limped off moments prior after tweaking a hamstring. The Dragons also lost Tyson Frizell to a second-half HIA in a scrappy clash that saw the two sides combine for 33 errors throughout.

Ultimately, the Sharks did enough to stay in the finals hunt and left the Dragons licking their wounds ahead of next week's clash with the high-flying Roosters at Kogarah next Saturday.

Aaron Woods opened the scoring in the unlikeliest of fashions, winning the race to a neatly placed grubber from Jayden Brailey in the 17^th minute. Johnson converted for a 6-0 lead.

It quickly shot to 12 when Sosaia Feki crossed out wide in the very next set, Johnson nailing the sideline conversion for a 12-point buffer after 21 minutes.

The Dragons cut the margin back to six five minutes before the break when Jackson Ford grabbed his first NRL try after Moylan made a mess of grubber from Euan Aitken. Widdop converted to draw within a single converted try at the break.

The Dragons made most of the running in the second half, with Leilua crossing in the 63^rd minute and Widdop converting to lock the scores at 12-all with 16 minutes left to play.

McInnes' tackle on Xerri shaped as a match-winning play, with the Sharks unable to get back within field goal range after Townsend's first wayward shot.

The Dragons made their own run at the win through Widdop, who made a break only to inexplicably kick the ball dead and hand the Sharks a seven-tackle set.

It was largely without adventure before Johnson's bomb that bounced favourably through the hands of Graham before being scooped up by Xerri for the final try.

McInnes finished with 13 runs, 51 tackles but once again without an ounce of luck.