The early signs have been positive, the Dragons victory over Parramatta a particular highlight. On that occasion the Eels were unable to break through a defensive wall, St George Illawarra's intensity and effort in defence was ferocious.

The last two games, however, have seen the side regress. Of particular concern was last week's loss to the Roosters, Griffin conceding his team lost touch with the contest emotionally as Sydney ran away with the match.

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With the Tigers travelling to Wollongong to face St George Illawarra at WIN Stadium on Sunday afternoon, the coach is confident we'll see a return of the relentless physicality that punctuated the win over Parramatta.

"The players are disappointed with last week," Griffin said. "We're all disappointed with the way that game ended up. The first 30-35 minutes we were pretty good, but there's some lessons in there for us that we've got to learn.

"We've got to hang in there. We've been very good with that all year, it's not something new to us. It's something that wasn't there last week when we were under pressure defensively, we've got to find a way to get through those periods.

"That five or six minute period before half time when we had Jordan (Pereira) off in the sin bin, that was an opportunity for us to win the game, not lose it, if we showed some resilience. As a club, we've showed that a lot over the last six or seven weeks, it's a matter of getting back into that frame of mind as a team."

The Dragons are cautious of a dangerous Wests side, the club enduring a week of turmoil after last week's drubbing at the hands of Manly. Coach Michael Maguire is in the hot seat, his team winning just one of seven games this year.

Despite their poor record, the Tigers have shown an ability to play high-quality football in patches, pushing the Rabbitohs to golden point and defeating the Knights in Newcastle and Griffin is wary of an ambush on Sunday.

"There's not too many teams that have troubled Souths, they should've beaten Souths two weeks ago. That was a bizarre end to that game, but they did enough to beat Souths.

"They're a very good football team. I thought they were on top last week for long periods, then Tommy Turbo tore them apart just before half time, but their first 30 to 35 minutes last week was good.

"We've certainly done a lot of work on them, we respect them a lot, they've got a lot of good players. What's happened in the media about their club, that's got nothing to do with us."

St George Illawarra will welcome back captain Ben Hunt for the clash, the halfback returning from a fractured leg suffered in round three.

The 31-year-old was a chance of lining up last Sunday, the club instead opting to play it safe and Griffin said he will benefit from the extra week off.

"He's 100% right," Griffin said. "Last week he could've played, but there was always going to be a risk, we took a long-term view with that injury. He ran really well Wednesday, Thursday he was really sharp, did a lot of kicking, he's 100% right now.

"He adds leadership to the side, three of four weeks ago, he was leading the team really well, emotionally but also as a playmaker. That's a great boost for us and for Ben to have him back."

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