South Sydney have won their fourth Charity Shield in a row with an 18-14 win over St George Illawarra.
In warm conditions, the Rabbitohs had the better of a scrappy encounter as both teams ended with three tries each.
Representative fullback Josh Dugan was rested after undergoing off-season neck surgery while St George Illawarra were also without star back-rower Tyson Frizell (back injury) as well as Joel Thompson and captain Gareth Widdop who were involved in the NRL All-Stars match.
The Dragons started poorly and trailed 6-0 after four minutes when John Sutton crashed over from close to the line.
Souths had gained possession after Dragons fullback Kurt Mann had taken the ball dead in goal in the previous set, forcing a goal-line dropout.
St George Illawarra hit back five minutes later after an amazing piece of skill from Jason Nightingale led to a Mann try.
Dragons halfback Benji Marshall put in a grubber close to the line that looked to be going dead in goal before the New Zealand international miraculously flicked the ball back into the field of play.
Euan Aitken then knocked the ball back for Mann to ground it and reduce the deficit to two points.
From there the first half deteriorated as both sides were guilty of a number of basic handling errors.
With the temperature still hovering around the 30 degree mark and the NRL’s new shot clock in place to speed up the game, both sides looked visibly tired as the first half went on.
There was a scare for the Dragons when Ben Creagh was caught awkwardly when making a tackle after 26 minutes.
The 31-year-old was replaced immediately as a precaution after appearing to hurt his neck, which was later diagnosed as a pinched nerve.
Mann was in the action again nine minutes before the break when he made a try-saving tackle on Souths replacement hooker Damien Cook.
St George Illawarra looked to have taken the lead moments before the break when Aitken crashed over next to the posts.
Referee Gavin Badger awarded a try but the video referee overturned the decision as Aitken was shown to lose control of the ball just short of the line.
It was a quiet start to the second half before St George Illawarra took the lead after 52 minutes.
Replacement rake Siliva Havili squirmed his way over from close range to score under the posts and give the Dragons a 10-6 lead.
The Rabbitohs hit back two minutes later to regain the lead when Kirisome Auva’a dragged new signing Tim Lafai over the line to score out wide.
Souths looked to have sealed victory 12 minutes from full-time when Ed Murphy scored out wide on the back of a Cody Walker break.
But the Dragons crossed with five minutes to go through Aitken to set up a tense finish.
St George lllawarra take on the New Zealand Warriors in their next trial at Trafalgar Park, Nelson, New Zealand on Saturday.
The Dragons start their NRL campaign against the Melbourne Storm on March 7.
Leader Scoreboard
South Sydney 18
(John Sutton, Kirisome Auva’a, Ed Murphy tries. Bryson Goodwin, Damien Cook, Cody Walker goals)
defeated
St George Illawarra 14
(Kurt Mann, Siliva Havili, Euan Aitken tries. Benji Marshall goal)
at ANZ Stadium
Crowd: 13,421
Leader man of the match: Cody Walker (South Sydney)
