NRL: Souths win but Dugan stars for Dragons

Tom Burgess is tackled during the Rabbitohs' win against the Dragons. Photo / Getty Images

Josh Dugan all but sealed the NSW State of Origin fullback jersey despite St George Illawarra going down to South Sydney 16-10 at ANZ Stadium on Monday night.

Dugan was a standout in a losing side as the Rabbitohs snapped a three-game losing streak to get their premiership defence back on track.

He was not expected to play after copping a knee injury he suffered in last week's trans-Tasman test and made a timely statement of his value to Blues coach Laurie Daley.

After Brett Stewart returned to form with a two-try effort for Manly on Sunday, Dugan ensured he stayed at the top of the Blues pecking order with a busy performance.

He was excellent in attack and defence, making a game-high 268 metres, including a scintillating 70 metre break which gave the Dragons a late opportunity to even up the game, however the attacking raid ultimately failed.

The Rabbitohs went up 2-0 after the Dragons were penalised for a Mike Cooper high shot on John Sutton, the former Souths captain poked in the eye during the incident.

Sutton, in his first game back from a broken jaw, came off soon after and did not returning for the rest of the match.

Dylan Walker and Adam Reynolds made timely returns to push their State of Origin claims however were made to look ordinary when Peter Mata'utia sliced through their attempted tackles and put Gareth Widdop over.

The Rabbitohs evened things up when Greg Inglis threw a lovely cut-out pass for Aaron Gray who crossed for his first NRL try.

Jason Nightingale scored in the shadows of halftime but the Dragons winger undid his hard work when he produced a soft attempted tackle on his own goal-line which allowed Gray to get his second and even things up.

The Rabbitohs went ahead through Alex Johnston when they were gifted four sets of six on the Dragons' goal-line after receiving three tough penalties and hung on for the win.

After announcing his move the to the Warriors next year, Souths did not start Issac Luke, opting to run Cameron McInnes at hooker.

Souths coach Michael Maguire said there were initial fears that Sutton had detached a retina in the incident and he was taken to hospital.

But the prognosis wasn't as bad as first thought and he would be assessed further on Tuesday.

Maguire said there was no agenda behind Luke's benching despite his impending exit, saying McInnes was elevated from the bench on form.

The title-winning mentor added that the win was proof his side hadn't been far off the pace during their three-loss stretch.

"I'm just pleased with the players, we had to work extremely hard. We haven't been far off with the way we've been playing," he said.

"To see the boys dig in like they did tonight, they're definitely going to grow from that."

Dragons coach Paul McGregor said he was pleased with his team despite their six-game winning streak coming to an end.

He also praised Dugan and believed he should be awarded the Blues No.1 jumper.

"I'm not a selector or the coach but he's been in that environment before," McGregor said.

"He's come away with man of the match in that arena so it's a no-brainer for me."

- AAP