The St. George Illawarra Dragons have moved four points clear of the Wests Tigers, with some Zac Lomax brilliance enough to see the Red V home 18-14 on Thursday night at WIN Stadium.
In a game that failed to reach any great heights, Lomax was a shining light for the Dragons with 197 run metres, five tackle busts, a try and try assist.
Apisai Koroisau, meanwhile, was arguably man of the match even in defeat as the Tigers hooker celebrated signing on with the club until the end of the 2026 season with a try.
Daine Laurie also showed what he can offer in the NRL, having a hand in all of the visitors' tries as the skillful playmaker looks for a new deal.
The Dragons had the first genuine try-scoring opportunity of the opening half, with Ben Hunt shaping to pass and fooling Laurie to open up space to take the line on.
Hunt did just that and had the try line right in front of him, only for Isaiah Papali'i to hold on desperately in defence before Jahream Bula joined in and forced the error.
It proved an early turning point as a high tackle gifted the Tigers field position and saw the visitors capitalize immediately, albeit in sloppy fashion as a Laurie pass went to ground.
Winger Junior Tupou made the most of it though, beating two Dragons defenders to score in the 10th minute. Brandon Wakeham's first attempted conversion sprayed left.
The Dragons hit back soon after when Talatau Amone drifted across the field and popped a ball for fullback Tyrell Sloan, who was in support on the inside. Lomax then slotted the extras to give the home side a 6-4 lead after 18 minutes.
Suddenly it was St George Illawarra well on top, with an error from Bula deep inside the Tigers' own half seeing the Dragons go over once more as Hunt put ball to boot and on a platter for Lomax.
Another successful conversion pushed the Dragons' buffer out to 12-4 but just as Ryan Carr's men looked to be gaining ascendancy they came crashing down to earth as momentum flipped once more.
On this occasion, Laurie - who was heavily involved with three try assists in the first half - burst through the middle of the field to put the Tigers in try-scoring territory.
Sloan then later held down too long in a tackle, giving the referee no alternative but to march the Dragons fullback to the sin bin.
It proved a costly brain fade from Sloan, with the Tigers scoring two quickfire tries to close out the half and take a 14-12 lead into the break.
Laurie was at the centre of both tries, first firing a pass to Tommy Talau who quickly shifted it to Tupou for the winger's second try of the night.
The Tigers five-eighth then cut the ball out to Tupou who raced down the left sideline and summed up the situation perfectly, putting a well-weighted kick back inside for Koroisau in support.
That final try put an exclamation mark on a dominant end to the half for the Tigers while exposing serious defensive deficiencies on the Dragons' left edge, with Makaele Ravalawa's decision-making particularly peculiar.
Ravalawa's finishing with the ball in hand can't be questioned though, with the Dragons winger storming over after a magical offload from Lomax to score the first try of the second half in the 65th minute.
Lomax then nailed the sideline conversion to put the Dragons up 18-14 as the home side eventually capitalised on ill-discipline from a Tigers side that had otherwise looked the more likely to score.
A 5-0 penalty count in the first 25 minutes of the second half, however, kept the Dragons in the contest and the constant sets inside the opposition red zone were eventually bound to bear fruit.
In the end that, along with a 65 per cent completion rate in the second half, proved too much for the Tigers to overcome.
The Dragons will look to make it two on the trot against the Sea Eagles next week while the Tigers face the Rabbitohs, who expect Latrell Mitchell to be fit to return from a calf injury.