Hunt will wear No.9 for the second straight game when the Dragons face Canterbury in Wollongong on Saturday, with captain Cameron McInnes to start again at lock, where he starred in last week's 34-4 rout of Manly - St George's biggest win in more than a year.

McGregor said the players who take up the biggest chunk of the Dragons payroll were behind their recovery since slumping to 0-4 when well beaten by the Bulldogs six weeks ago.

The coach staved off intense pressure around his own job and has since overseen three wins from the last five, leaving his side 11th and just two points outside the top eight.

"The big thing is our more experienced players and our higher-profile players are playing better consistently, and when they do that the young boys grow and your team becomes a team," McGregor said.

"That's what I've seen. Last week our better players were our ones that are getting paid well."

Chief among them were Hunt and McInnes in the revamped roles which McGregor believes have solved some former shortcomings.

Queensland representative Hunt had failed to fire in the halves before four games off the bench restored his influence.

"The combination them two guys have got at the moment really benefits everyone around them," McGregor said.

"That's the important thing because we've still got a lot of young middles that are learning the game.

"Cam ... well he's a machine isn't he? He changes from nine to 13 and he gets his 140m (run), his 20 supports and his 48 tackles.

"He was highly involved in our success and how we want to attack the game."

McGregor remains wary of how the Bulldogs will respond to the midweek exit of head coach Dean Pay.

"Obviously they weren't getting wins but I still thought they were playing hard footy for the coach that was there. Deano's a good mate of mine and I feel for him," he said.

"Now they've got a coach (caretaker Steve Georgallis) who's been the assistant coach there and they'll come to play."

STATS THAT MATTER

* The Bulldogs have won five of their six games against the Dragons at WIN Stadium.

* Matt Dufty, Zac Lomax and Mikaele Ravalawa have all scored six tries for the Dragons this season, while no Bulldogs player has scored more than two.

* The Bulldogs (18) and Dragons (20) have scored the fewest points in the opening 20 minutes of games this season.

Australian Associated Press