NRL: Dragons hold off Knights for nervy win

Jarrod Saffy of the Dragons is tackled during his side's round 25 NRL match against the Newcastle Knights. Photo / Getty Images

St George Illawarra have wrapped up the NRL minor premiership, holding off a brave fightback from Newcastle to win 26-18 at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Saturday.

Leading 22-0 just after the restart through Ben Creagh's try, the Dragons looked home and hosed, but conceded three tries in seven second-half minutes to let the Knights back into the game.

But as the Knights bombarded the Dragons line, Jamie Soward sealed the win with a four-pointer three-minutes from time after Darius Boyd eased the pressure with 60-metre break to tee up the five-eighth who raced over to score.

Four minutes after halftime, Creagh held off six Newcastle players to plant the ball over the line one-handed under the posts to silence the sell-out home crowd of 23,148 who came to pay tribute to retiring skipper Steve Simpson.

However, the response from the hosts, who needed to win to keep alive their slim finals hopes, was swift with three unanswered tries to leave the Dragons reeling.

The first came from Adam MacDougall, who dived over under pressure from Matt Cooper to break Timana Tahu's all-time club record with his 82nd try in Knights colours.

A sideline kick from skipper Kurt Gidley lifted the mood and seemed to galvanise the Knights, who then scored two tries in quick succession from Cooper Vuna, in his last game for the club before moving Super rugby side Melbourne Rebels.

Vuna, who ran in four tries against Brisbane last week, latched onto a high kick from Jarrod Mullen to touch down in the left corner in the 51st minute and the pair combined again in identical fashion two minutes later.

However, the Dragons on the back foot for most of the second half, recovered some composure to keep out the fired-up home side, with Soward's 77th-minute try securing the win.

The visitors had looked to have one hand on the JJ Giltinan Shield for the second successive season, after producing a dominant first-half display.

Wayne Bennett's side led 16-0 at the break following a breathtaking start with tries from Brett Morris, Dean Young and Jason Nightingale.

- AAP