Mullen struggled to make his mark on the game, in large part due to an energised Dragons defensive line which rushed up on him at every opportunity.
The Dragons finished eight-point victors much to the delight of the 15,291-strong crowd, with tries to Nightingale and Beau Scott and a stoic defensive effort in a scoreless second-half proving enough to overcome an improved Newcastle outfit.
Nightingale's four-pointer was particularly memorable, with Soward's quick hands finding a speeding Brett Morris on the inside to split the Newcastle defence, with the fullback running 20 metres before drawing Boyd and sending Nightingale over for a classy team try.
But it could have been so much more.
The home side dominated field position in the first half, but had two tries controversially disallowed and Ben Creagh butchered at least two more.
The second-rower dropped the ball over the line on two occasions before the break, but was perhaps unlucky not to be the first man on the scoresheet when denied in the seventh minute.
Creagh was ruled to have lost possession when attempting to ground a cross-field kick from Soward despite appearing to have control.
Perhaps even more unluckily, winger Daniel Vidot was denied when Soward was ruled to have interfered with Uate after a towering bomb was not defused.
Knights backrower Zeb Taia was denied a try in the 56th minute when it was ruled Newcastle prop Kade Snowden had obstructed Scott.
Dragons prop Dan Hunt put his hand up for a Country jersey with some inspired runs as he racked up 38 tackles and 125 metres for the match.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 12 (J Nightingale B Scott tries J Soward 2 goals) bt NEWCASTLE 4 (A Uate try) at WIN Jubilee Oval. Referee: Jared Maxwell, Gavin Reynolds. Crowd: 15,291.
