Marshall the magician hadn't been spotted in rugby league circles since his disappearing act from Leichhardt left him wandering the sidelines of Eden Park just over 12 months ago.

But the magician resurfaced at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, turning back time to lead St George Illawarra to their fourth-straight victory with a 31-6 victory against the Canterbury Bulldogs.

It was vintage Benji Marshall. There were cut-outs, short balls, no-look passes, banana kicks and a field goal. There were bits of the brilliant and bits of the not so brilliant.

It was the Marshall of old. And, in a way, it was the Dragons of old.

Not since the great wall of Wayne came crashing down at the end of 2011 have the Dragons defended with such purpose and desperation they have shown in the last month under the tutelage of coach Paul McGregor.

For three years under the Wayne Bennett regime, the red V was a symbol of solidarity and recognised competition-wide as the best defensive unit in the competition.

But after three years of mediocrity that left even the most avid Dragons questioning the desire and commitment of their troops, pride has finally been restored at one of the most iconic rugby league clubs.

The Dragons, who held the previously unbeaten Newcastle Knight scoreless last week, conceded just their second try in the past 301 minutes of football when former Dragon Josh Morris crossed in the 49th minute in front of a crowd of 20,273.

While St George Illawarra's defence had been praised in the lead up to the clash against the Bulldogs - who were missing James Graham, David Klemmer, Brett Morris, Tim Lafai and Sam Kasiano - there was still plenty of criticism of the club's stuttering attack.

But Marshall and his compatriot Gareth Widdop answered the call, producing the best attacking display of the season to dismantle last year's grand finalists.

The Dragons withstood an early attacking onslaught from the Bulldogs to post first points after Josh Dugan crashed over from close range courtesy of a flat pass from Mitch Rein.

St George Illawarra should have doubled their lead when Gareth Widdop burst through the middle of the park from the ensuing set, however Dylan Farrell failed to ground the Widdop kick.

For the second consecutive week Josh Reynolds found himself coming off the bench, introduced into the match at the half hour mark, however his introduction didn't have the impact Hasler would have been after.

A piece of Marshall brilliance finally saw the Dragons add to their advantage, putting Peter Mata'utia into score down a narrow blind side with a flat-out pass that bamboozled the Bulldogs' outside backs.

Then on the stroke of half time Marshall inflicted further damage when a well-timed short ball from the halfback put backrower Tyson Frizell in for an 18-0 lead at the break.

After 49 minutes of consistent pressure, the Bulldogs finally found a way through with Josh Morris running a good line off Tony Williams to reduce the deficit to 12 points.

From the ensuing kick-off, Tim Browne's match came to a premature end when a high shot Frizell floored the prop and sent him from the field on the medicab.

But the Dragons weren't deterred, compiling further misery with Joel Thompson and Euan Aitken crossing to secure a convincing victory.