St George Illawarra have been a little bit like the pandemic that's plunged three states into lockdown and seen the whole competition shifted to Queensland - seemingly gone, but somehow finding a way to hang around.
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We unfortunately can't say the same about the pandemic, but the Dragons certainly look done and dusted for 2021 after going down 20-12 to the Raiders on Friday night.
Anthony Griffin's side led twice in the opening stanza but couldn't find a point in an error-riddled second half after the score was locked at 12-all at halftime.
The two sides could not have been more evenly poised coming in, both on 18 competition points with a -82 for and against - the Raiders one rung up on the ladder by virtue of a single point in the 'for' column.
The winner would leapfrog the Knights into seventh spot and kick partially clear of a five-team peloton on the edge of finals contention; the other would drop as low as 11th by the end of the round.
It's the Dragons facing that prospect after suffering their fourth straight defeat to send them tumbling down the ladder.
"We just made errors in our own end, the way they got their points in the first half, they got them easy or against the run of play," Griffin said post-game.
"We just didn't clean up two kicks on last play. Apart from the try by [Tom Starling] in the second half I thought [we] did a really good job defending our line all night.
"We didn't deserve to lose effort-wise, we've just got to be smarter coming out of our own end. We made three or four errors in the second half and invited the opposition down.
"To their credit they defended their own line really well in the second half and didn't give us a sniff there.
"Even until late in the game we had our opportunities to win but we weren't quite good enough. I feel for them because they threw a helluva lot of effort into the game, we just did enough to lose it."
Despite all the turmoil of injury and suspension, the Dragons have spent 17 of 20 weeks in the top eight, last week's loss to South Sydney seeing them drop out for the first time since round two.
Even then it was only on for and against but, with the Panthers, Roosters and Rabbitohs awaiting them on the run home, the climb seems decidedly steep.
The game did see the return of some decent stock, with Jack Bird, Josh McGuire, Jack de Belin and Blake Lawrie all back in the 17 after watching last week's loss to the Bunnies in civilian garb.
Injured skipper Ben Hunt is still three weeks from returning from a fractured arm but, with Josh Kerr and Gerard Beale serving their barbecue suspension, the 'Party at Vaughny's' saga is now officially in the rear-view mirror.
It will give Griffin the largest squad to pick from in the best part of three months when he looks at his 17 for the Panthers clash next week, but it looks a case of too little too late for the club's finals hopes.
"The season't not over but it's been hard, ever since Magic Round (round 10) we haven't been able to out our best side out," Griffin said.
"We lost our captain last week but, tonight, we had an opportunity to win that game. The team we put out there did a magnificent job for most of the night.
"It had that finals feel, both teams were up for it, but they just got their points too easy, two kicks and a dummy-half try. We just found a couple of ways to dig a hole for ourselves.
"We've got everyone available now except for Ben Hiunt. Kerr and Beal, Tyrell [Fuimaono] are available next week. That'll help.
"There were a helluva lot of good things in that performance which we can build on. Obviously [barbecue suspensions] hasn't helped but it's over, I'm more worried about what we do next week."
Griffin was forced into a reshuffle just 31 seconds in, with Cody Ramsey copping some friendly fire from Andrew McCullough and leaving the field for an HIA from which he didn't return.
It saw McCullough sporting a headband, Talatau Amone immediately injected into the action, and the Dragons down to 16 men for 79 and a half minutes.
They shrugged off the inauspicious start, with Mat Feagai crossing off a neat cut-out ball from Corey Norman for the first try after Josh Papalii spilled the ball cold on his own 30-metre line. Zac Lomax nailed the sideline conversion for a 6-0 lead after 10 minutes.
Lomax pushed the margin out further with a penalty goal six minutes later after Jordan Rapana collected Lawrie with an errant knee in front of the Raiders sticks.
The Raiders hit back when Elliot Whitehead threaded a grubber into the Dragons in-goal, with Harley Smith-Shields providing a bat-back for Rapana to score. Jarrod Croker slotted the extras from the sideline to cut the margin back to two 16 minutes before the break.
It looked to have given the Raiders the running before Adam Clune split the defence on halfway and shot upfield, finding Tariq Sims in support for the Dragons second four-pointer. Lomax's attempt at the extras was waved away, keeping the margin at six.
It looked certain to stay that way at the break before Jack Wighton plucked a Sam Williams bomb from the fingertips of Lomax for the Raiders second try. Croker nailed the equaliser from in front to lock the scores at 12 apiece at halftime.
Tom Starling burrowed over from close range just three minutes after the resumption, though it took several bunker replays to confirm he'd planted the ball despite the attention of three defenders. Croker's conversion gave the Raiders an 18-12 lead, their first of the game.
Papalii looked to have extended it after Mikaele Ravalawa fumbled a bomb from Williams 10 metres out from his own line. Referee Chris Sutton pointed to the spot before replays showed Wighton getting a finger to the ball in the lead-up.
It was a reprieve for the Dragons, but it was brief, with Sam Williams punching a 40-20 upfield and Lomax collecting Wighton high in the ensuing set. Croker made no mistake off the tee to push the margin beyond a converted try, sealing the win.
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
