St George Illawarra overcame a send off, two first-half injuries, a concussion check for their fullback and 80 minutes of madness to beat Gold Coast 46-26 and leave the Titans still battling to avoid the NRL wooden spoon.
On a bizarre Sunday afternoon in Wollongong, Saints prop Francis Molo was sent off for a high shot on Greg Marzhew with 17 minutes remaining as the Titans were mounting a late charge while trailing 30-26.
But somehow the Saints managed to score three unanswered tries with Molo off the field, seemingly playing better once a man short.
"Our season has been a little bit like that," coach Anthony Griffin said.
"We have always had a challenge or an obstacle to get over, and today was one of those days.
"I was really proud of what they did with 17 minutes to go.
"It was going to go one way or another once Frank got sent off. They chose to tough it out and scored three tries to nil."
It came in a 13-try shootout that befitted not only the point-scoring blitz that has been round 23 but a match between two teams with little to play for towards the end of the 2022 regular season.
Saints winger Tautau Moga claimed the first hat-trick of his career, but Talatau Amone was the Dragons' best, scoring a double while also laying on another try.
Ben Hunt also had a role in two tries, laying on a superb cut-out pass for Jack Bird early in the second half, but also handing one back to the Titans though a short dropout.
Bird also also set up two tries, playing across four positions as the Saints' lost several players during the match.
Notably, hooker Andrew McCullough suffered a medial ligament injury as questions continue around his future with a year still to run on his contract.
Moses Mbye also suffered a hamstring injury, while fullback Cody Ramsey spent time off the field for a concussion check.
Given all that, it was an incredible feat that the Dragons still managed to cross for nine tries in the 20-point win.
And after all the madness, the Titans are still no closer to avoiding the wooden spoon.
Above the battling Wests Tigers on for-and-against only, the Titans had every chance to go one win above them in 15th place when the Dragons went down to 12 men.
Several of their tries were entertaining, not least of which Beau Fermor's in the second half when the ball went through seven sets of hands and was kicked twice in the lead-up.
But for all that, it was an all-too-familiar result for the Titans, who have lost 11 of their past 12 matches.
"There's motivation whether we're in that position (of trying to avoid the spoon) or not," said Titans coach Justin Holbrook.
"We want to play and we're disappointed, the way we finished today.
"We got within striking distance and then just made way too many errors when we got the ball."
