Their attack may still be creeping towards something that resembles an NRL standard, but St George Illawarra’s renowned defensive spirit can carry them a long way in 2012.

Less than a week after registering a duck egg in their local derby with Cronulla, the Dragons again lacked fluidity in attack – this time crossing for two converted tries – but it proved more than enough against a Newcastle outfit that had no answer to the home side’s relentless defensive pressure.

And they would have known what was coming – Knights coach Wayne Bennett is the man who instilled that mentality into the Dragons during his three-year stint at the joint-venture club.

The Dragons have scored less than 18 points in five of their seven matches this season, but have defended well enough to win on three of those occasions.

“I was very pleased with our defensive display, I thought we showed a lot of character and a lot of resolve to hold them to four points,” Dragons coach Steve Price said after the match.

“It was just one of those games where we held our nerve and had to defend a scoreline and we did that so that was pleasing to keep them to four points.

“We created a lot of opportunities but just couldn’t really finish them off.” And while much of the rock solid line comes down to having fewer weak links – with former speed bump Jamie Soward now a reliable defensive half – bench prop Trent Merrin said it starts and ends with the hard work done by the starting pack.

“We’ve got blokes like Dan hunt, Michael Weyman and Dean Young on the field, and when they come off you’ve got that standard that you have to be at when you come on there,” Merrin told AAP.

“We did (last) tonight.

“Newcastle are really tough through the middle, they’ve got some big boys and they kept testing us all night. It was a credit to our defence that we kept them out.”

Merrin said the win, which improved the Dragons to a 4-3 record for the season, was the perfect way to start a long break before their next clash, on Anzac Day, against the Sydney Roosters which comes after the representative bye weekend.

“The win (last) night really helps us out. We can sit back and be happy to know we’ve got the two points under our belt,” he said.

“We can all relax over this week and get our bodies ready for the following week coming up.”