St George Illawarra beat Cronulla Sharks to top NRL table

St George Illawarra moved to the top of Australia's National Rugby League table with a thumping 42-6 win over local rivals Cronulla Sharks.

The Dragons notched their biggest win of the season after running in six tries to one at Kogarah Oval.

Paul McGregor's side went into the game having scored the fewest tries in the NRL, despite being entrenched in the top four.

However, in front of an 18,000-strong home crowd the Dragons showed their attacking threat, led by Benji Marshall and Gareth Widdop.

Josh Dugan, Mitch Rein, Will Matthews, Jack de Belin, Peter Mata'utia and Eto Nabuli all touched down for the Dragons, while Widdop booted 18 points.

The Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys are also on 18 points with the Dragons following contrasting weekend wins.

Brisbane registered their second win on the road in six days during the State of Origin representative period which veteran coach Wayne Bennett described as a bonus for the Broncos.

The Broncos followed last Monday's away win against Newcastle with a 24-12 victory over Canberra in the national capital minus some of their biggest names.

Queensland Maroons stars Justin Hodges and Sam Thaiday were rested, yet Bennett's men with four backing up from Wednesday's Origin win over New South Wales, were still too strong for the Raiders who slumped to a third straight defeat.

The North Queensland Cowboys engineered a great escape against Manly in Townsville, stealing an 18-14 victory at the death.

The Cowboys extended their winning streak to nine games but not before surviving a major scare in an error-riddled performance.

Gavin Cooper sealed the match just a minute from time, sparing the Cowboys’ blushes after 16 handling errors.

Test star Greg Inglis suffered a head knock as defending champions South Sydney overcame the Titans 22-16 on the Gold Coast.

Inglis was felled by an accidental arm when he clashed with Titans enforcer Ryan James while attempting to take a high ball in early in the second half.

A combination of valiant Titans goal-line defence and tame Rabbitohs attack kept the game evenly poised until Alex Johnston, deputising at full-back for Inglis, dashed over for his 30th NRL try in as many games 19 minutes from time to give Souths their winning six-point cushion.

The New Zealand Warriors beat an injury-hit Newcastle 24-20 in Auckland on Sunday for their third straight win.

But it was another close-run thing for the Warriors, whose last five matches have been decided by four points or less.

Newcastle winger Akuila Uate's second try, when he powered over from dummy half with five minutes to go, was converted to make for a grandstand finish.