The Wests Tigers have set up an all or nothing final round showdown with Cronulla after downing St George Illawarra 42-14 on Sunday.
The Tigers will play the Sharks at Leichhardt Oval next Sunday. The winner will play finals football this season while the loser will have their campaign ended in what could be Robbie Farah's final game at Balmain's spiritual home.
The Dragons though confirmed they will finish second last on the NRL table with their eighth loss from their last nine games. St George Illawarra will end their dismal season on Saturday night when they travel to the Gold Coast to take on the wooden spooners the Titans.
The Tigers took the lead after just four minutes when Paul Momirovski scored, benefiting from Luke Brooks' long run down field.
Euan Aitken's try midway through the half drew the Dragons level before Gareth Widdop's penalty goal had St George Illawarra in front three minutes later.
But the Tigers would take a 12-8 advantage to half-time when Luke Garner crossed nine minutes before the break.
St George Illawarra looked as though they would hit back almost straight after the resumption, only for Momirovski to intercept a Widdop pass and race 90 metres to score under the posts.
The Dragons refused to quit though and did reduce the deficit to 18-14 with a slice of luck.
Tigers fullback Corey Thompson failed to defuse a Ben Hunt bomb, with Widdop racing through to scoop up the loose ball and score.
The try saw Widdop pass 900 points for the joint venture club with the five-eighth in second place on the Dragons' all-time point-scoring list.
The Dragons lost Zac Lomax to a sickening head knock before Momirovski completed his hat-trick midway through the second half after a slick Benji Marshall pass.
Marshall then sealed the result with 10 minutes remaining with a sublime solo effort to cross next to the posts.
The Dragons suffered another blow when gutsy hooker Cameron McInnes appeared to suffer an ankle injury late on.
Brooks then added more insult to the Dragons with another length of the field effort with five minutes to play before Elijah Taylor completed the rout.
Leader Scoreboard
Wests Tigers 42 (Paul Momirovski three, Luke Garner, Benji Marshall, Luke Brooks, Elijah Taylor tries. Paul Momirovski seven goals)
defeated
St George Illawarra 14 (Euan Aitken, Gareth Widdop tries. Gareth Widdop three goals)
at Sydney Cricket Ground
Crowd: 9,136
Leader man of the match: Benji Marshall (Tigers)
Dragons' next game: Titans (away)
