St George Illawarra might be secure in the NRL top eight for another week but face some sleepless nights following their 19-12 win on Thursday night over Penrith.
Influential back-rower Tyson Frizell was among three Dragons players put on report in the unconvincing victory at WIN Stadium.
The Panthers were the better side for most of the game but the Dragons managed to get over the line, as Gareth Widdop and Benji Marshall came to the fore in the final quarter.
Frizell is facing a hefty suspension for tripping Will Smith. He also has 75 carryover points from a high tackle earlier in the year.
Euan Aitken (knee to head) and Jake Marketo (dangerous throw) are also expected to come under scrutiny from the match review committee.
The Dragons needed two points to stay in the eight with fast-finishing Manly nipping at their heels and it was halves Marshall and Widdop who stood up when it mattered most.
After scores were tied at 12-12 for most of second half, a deft Widdop kick allowed the Dragons to trap the Panthers in-goal and Marshall slotted a field goal the next set.
Seven minutes later, Widdop grubbered for himself and planted it to kill off any chance of a Panthers comeback.
Earlier, the home side grabbed an 8-0 lead after Peter Mata’utia exploited some poor Penrith goalline defence.
However, the Panthers wrestled back the ascendancy thanks to Jamie Soward’s kicking game as David Simmons and Josh Mansour crossed to make it 10-10 at the break.
The Panthers are expected to be without Elijah Taylor for the rest of the season after he suffered a suspected broken arm.
steveng
Roar Rookie
The Panthers should have won that by 20 points. With this sort of a performance the Dragons do not deserve to be in the 8.
Charles
Guest
Farrell has been a problem and should not be in 1st grade!
Joe
Roar Rookie
This was closer than I was expecting. It seems that all the teams that don't make the 8 will be happy to play Spoilers for the rest of the season. Marshall was back to rocks and diamonds. Widdop was a shining light and brought it home when it mattered. The defence for the dragons has improved but they'll need to cut out the mistakes with the ball...that nearly cost them last night.
Ken
Guest
Farrell is heart-attack material isn't he? Bombed two tries that most 1st grade wingers would have swallowed up and barely provided a distraction to the Panthers winger in the kick try where he gave him massive space, overran him and then fell over.
GPR
Guest
Yep, STAY ON YOUR OPPOSITE WINGER Farrell and Hunt. The return of Nightingale can't come soon enough. If Aitken gets suspended that'll do me, it's beyond a joke he was put on report.
Charles
Guest
The Dragons struggled against the Panthers! They will need to do much better than that if they want to go further Protecting their own tryline near the sidelines would be a good start as they leave yawing gaps for the opposition Their attack needs to improve a lot more, the coach has some work to do
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Panthers imploded. They could've won that if they didn't shot themselves in the foot with silly plays