Wests Tigers have one hand on the wooden spoon after falling 18-14 to St George Illawarra in a clash of the NRL's battlers.
Friday night's loss in Wollongong means, to leapfrog the Dragons into 16th place and avoid back-to-back wooden spoons, the Tigers likely need to win three of their final six games.
That's as many as they have won in 18 starts this season, and the equation will become even harder if the Dragons manage to win again on the run home.
Playing through a knee injury, Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa went from zero to hero in the second half, scoring the try that snatched the lead back and ultimately won the game.
As has been the case all month, the Tigers were competitive in patches but missed the game-management skills and composure of an established halves pairing.
First-choice halfback Luke Brooks is sidelined with his hamstring injury for another fortnight, and by the time he returns, the season could well and truly be gone.
Ravalawa had a defensive nightmare on the right wing early, caught in-field ahead of each of the Tigers' three first-half tries.
Two of those came while fullback Tyrell Sloan was in the sin bin for the professional foul he conceded on the Dragons' goal-line just before the half.
Ravalawa's opposite man Junior Tupou bagged a double, with Tigers captain Api Koroisau snatching the lead in the minute before half-time by grabbing Tupou's kick from the wing.
Saints had looked likelier than the visitors prior to Sloan's sin-binning, Ben Hunt and Junior Amone each setting up first-half tries.
But neither side could alter the 14-12 halftime scoreline amid some seriously low-quality football.
The Tigers appeared poised to raid the Dragons' right edge when Ravlawa played on despite corking his knee in a tackle.
But it was the wounded winger at the centre of the game-defining try.
Centre Zac Lomax bulldozed through four defenders and flicked to the winger on the right to help the Dragons reclaim the lead with 16 minutes to play.
On their last foray into enemy territory, the Tigers gave possession up with a poor kick from second-rower John Bateman.
Mathew Feagai went on report for making late, high contact with Tigers fullback Jahream Bula and teammate Jack de Belin could join him on the charge sheet for a chicken-wing tackle on Fonua Pole.
