NRL head of football Graham Annesley admitted on Monday that Dragons skipper Ben Hunt could have been sin-binned three times in the final 10 seconds with his side clinging to a 12-10 lead in monsoonal conditions in Wollongong.

The admission raised the ire of Canberra coach Ricky Stuart and the Raiders faithful, but Woods has been around long enough to know that luck is a see-sawing phenomenon in the NRL.

"We got a lucky decision at the end of the game that's caused a bit of heat around the NRL but sometimes you're on the right end of it, sometimes you're not," Woods said.

"That's the game. We've been on the wrong end of a couple of those as well. You look back every week and in close games you'll see people leave the 10 early to charge down kicks and they're offside. You get the review on Monday from the refs saying it should have been a penalty but you don't get it.

"Sometimes you're on the good end, sometimes you're on the bad end of it and lucky for us we were on the good end of it this time."

Either way it was a crucial two points Woods feels the Dragons may have let slip earlier in the season.

"If we had that in round four or five we probably end up losing that game," Woods said.

"I think just being around the system for a while now the boys know if we keep doing what we do it's going to win us games.

"We've only had a couple of really disappointing losses this year like the Titans one in Magic Round. If we were in that situation last week we probably do grab the two points, so you learn from your losses and it's showing as a group we're coming together and it's really working.

"Canberra have been playing some really good footy. Their two front-rowers in Papaali and Tapine have been on fire and they got Jack Wighton back too so we can take a lot of confidence out of that.

"We probably made it hard on ourselves. We had some good possession after halftime on their try-line, we just couldn't execute but it was a good win in the end and they're the games you need to win."

Sunday's clash with a depleted Brisbane outfit also falls into that category, with the Broncos stretched by injuries to Payne Haas and Te Maire Martin and the unavailability of Pat Carrigan, Kurt Capewell and Selwyn Cobbo due to Origin.

Read more: Sullivan to start from preferred gate against depleted Broncos

While the Dragons are wedged on both sides of a logjam on the lower rungs of the ladder, they remain just two points adrift of the Broncos and Eels, with Woods saying Sunday's opportunity is one his side can't let slip.

"They've got eight or nine out, a lot of them are in Origin, a couple injured as well, so these are the games you've got to win if you want to be a real contender come the end of the year," Woods said.

"Everyone says they've got a lot of players out, but we're still desperate, we're just inside the eight at the moment. We're two points behind Brisbane so it's a massive chance [for us]. Parra are only two points ahead of us as well so they're games you've just got to win.

"It doesn't matter how you win, you just need to look back at the end of the season and say 'we got that two points' against Brisbane. That logjam does get a little bit tighter each week that you win, the Roosters are just outside the eight sniffing around our coat-tails, so it is a must-win game for us this week."

The Dragons will be dealing with a notable absence of their own in skipper Ben Hunt but, having spent a mountain of time with them in preseason, Woods is more than confident young duo Jayden Sullivan and Talatau Amone are ready to fill the void.

"Bud had an injury just after Christmas that sort of stunned him a bit but prior to that I thought he was outstanding through preseason," Woods said.

"He's very vocal, he came across as a real young leader. It's disappointing to lose a player like Ben Hunt but we gain someone like Bud who's been thereabouts for a long me and fits into that role perfectly.

"The team's in really good hands with him steering the ship. He's played a few games off the bench for us this year and he's been in the system here for quite a while so he's got a lot of trust from all the boys.

"I think Junior Amone's starting to realise he's actually a first-grader now with the confidence and the performances he's been putting in the last few weeks. I'm really interested to see how they go together and I think they're going to put in a really good performance."

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