On a night when Nathan Blacklock continued his try-scoring spree to help St George Illawarra to a 42-28 victory over Manly, Dragons coach Nathan Brown joked he hoped the team bus didn't crash on the way out of Brookvale Oval.

Brown was naturally ecstatic after his side's eight tries to five victory over Manly, who produced another ordinary start before kicking into gear to turn the heat on.

But Brown was also relieved that his players came through unscathed after skipper Lance Thompson (foot) was ruled out of the rest of the National Rugby League season this week and gun centre Mark Gasnier (knee) was a late scratching.

"We came through without any injuries, which is good ... unless the bus crashes on the way home," the coach said.

It was a try-scoring feast for the Dragons, with centre Matt Cooper and wingers Blacklock and John Wilshere each bagging doubles.

Blacklock has now scored seven tries from three matches following his comeback to rugby league and is only eight tries behind the NRL's leading try-scorer Penrith's Rhys Wesser, who's played 10 more games than the former NSW Waratah.

He scored a crucial intercept try off a Jason Ferris pass in the 55th minute, seconds after stand-in captain Shaun Timmins had been sin-binned for back-chatting a touch judge.

The visitors led 20-18 at the time but extended their advantage to six points after Blacklock's try.

The Sea Eagles found themselves down 20-6 down with 25 minutes gone after the red-hot Dragons scored tries through Cooper, halfback Brett Firman, Wilshere and lock Dean Young.

But Manly stepped up a gear, like it has done several times this season, and trailed 20-12 at halftime following winger Scott Donald's second try, just before the break.

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