Dragons

Actually doing it will be even more difficult.

Traditionally, the words "blockbuster billing", "St George Illawarra" and "Warriors" haven't belonged in the same sentence.

The two clubs - or three if you include the four years of the Warriors' existence before St George and Illawarra merged - have made the finals in the same season just five times.

Nor have they ever met in a finals clash.

In simple terms, this makes Friday night's match the biggest ever played between the two sides.

‌Scoring points had been an issue for Paul McGregor's side in recent weeks with the Red V managing to post 20 or more points just once since their Round 12 bye. However, they turned that around with their highest score since they smashed the Raiders 58-16 in 2007 to keep their finals hopes alive. 

The damage was done in the first half with the Dragons racing in five unanswered tries before Manly mounted a stirring second-stanza comeback, only for the Red V to respond with the final four tries of the afternoon.

Retiring Dragons co-captain Ben Creagh was named on Tuesday but will not play, with Joel Thompson to start in the back row. Tyson Frizell is also out, replaced by Will Matthews in the starting side. Tim Lafai and Luciano Leilua join the final bench.

Needing to win their final three games of the regular season – and results to go their way – the Red V were simply never in the contest as the Tricolours secured their third win from their past four starts to rise up to 13th spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder. 

There was no stopping the three-time defending minor premiers who belied their lowly ranking in what was a faultless performance from start to finish. 

Blake Ferguson ran for a whopping 235 metres, Mitchell Pearce added three try assists to his ever-growing tally, while Daniel Tupou had his best game of 2016. 

The result has massive finals implications with the Dragons moving into fourth spot on the Holden Cup ladder while the Tricolours missed a golden opportunity to return to the top two. 

The early exchanges had all the hallmarks of a finals match with both sides throwing plenty at each other in an absorbing back-and-forth feeling-out period. 

Having survived a close call at the other end of the field, the Dragons opened the scoring in the 14th minute with skipper Patrick Herbert charging onto an out-ball from Matt Dufty.

Sims joined the Dragons on Wednesday and was immediately thrown into the deep end when coach Paul McGregor named him on the bench in the Dragons' eventual 10-point win over the Storm on Saturday evening.

Sims was mobbed by the media after his first Dragons showing and didn't beat around the bush when NRL.com asked him about his Knights departure. 

"You know me, mate. I love Newcastle. I love the place and the people that are involved with the club," Sims said.

"But the club opted to go in a different direction. Things changed and they changed quickly. 

Marshall has been limited to just six games in 2016 due to a hamstring strain that flared up either side of the Round 5 clash in North Queensland, but appeared unencumbered in the return clash against the Cowboys before last week's bye. 

Following last week's 25-20 loss to the Sharks it appears Titans coach Neil Henry has finally tired of the 'brave' tag for his team and would instead prefer to see the side earn the ascendancy early and go on with the job.

Lafai, 24, who can play in the centres, was recently granted a release by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs after five seasons with the club.