Dragons coach Anthony Griffin felt his team beat themselves by conceding "cheap points" in Sunday's 20-14 loss to the Warriors at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
Shooting for five straight wins for the first time since the start of 2018, St George Illawarra found themselves trailing 12-4 only 15 minutes into the match after Matt Dufty failed to clean up a kick in the in-goal area.
Paul Turner scored from that error minutes after Tohu Harris barged through Adam Clune for the visitors' opening points.
"We've been doing it most of the season. We offer them up 12 points and today it came back to bite us," Griffin said.
"Even though we've been winning the last few weeks, we've come up with some cheap points for the opposition.
Match Highlights: Dragons v Warriors
"We came up against a really good, committed side. You've got to give a lot of credit to the Warriors.
"We never threw in the towel and we clawed our way back ... There were a lot of good things we did but the opposition were very good. We gave them points they didn't earn - it came back to bite us."
The Dragons led 14-12 with 20 minutes to play after Dufty scored from an Adam Clune grubber but had their "worst period with the ball", according to Griffin, as they made a few costly mistakes.
Execution perfection from Dufty and Clune
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck then beat two defenders to seal the match for the Warriors, who completed 40 of 40 sets, per NRL.com Stats.
Having finished last round in fourth place after beating the Eels, St George Illawarra have slipped to sixth ahead of next Sunday's Anzac Day clash with the Sydney Roosters.
While the Dragons weren't as dominant in defence at Kogarah as they'd been in previous games, Griffin doesn't think a bash-'em-up style of play has taken a toll on his troops.
"We weren't there today [physically] which we'll have to have a look at. They're a big side, the Warriors, they're very underrated as a team in my opinion," he said.
"To our credit, we scrambled and defended really well for long periods … We didn't get any help from the opposition at all."
Josh McGuire made an impressive debut in the Red V off the interchange Red after arriving from the Cowboys on Tuesday.
"He carried the ball strong, he worked really hard defensively. I think he ended up playing 55 minutes straight," Griffin said of the 31-year-old middle forward.
St George Illawarra captain Ben Hunt could return from a fractured fibula against the Roosters, though Griffin wasn't confident, while five-eighth Corey Norman will be assessed after hurting his shoulder.
