It’s the record St George Illawarra will desperately want to avoid.
Since the inception of the top-eight finals system in 1995, only two teams have ever missed the finals after leading the ladder after seven rounds.
A loss to Penrith on Sunday could condemn the Dragons to being the third.
From their 6-1 start to the season, the Saints have lost 10 of their past 15 to drop to ninth, and are now two points outside of the top eight.
After North Queensland beat Wests Tigers on Friday night, a Manly victory over the Warriors and Dragons loss to Penrith on Sunday would spell the end of their season.
“You certainly feel the sense of urgency,” coach Paul McGregor said.
“Pressure is a privilege when you get to this level. Because it means you are at a level everyone wants to be at.
“And for us, to play finals footy and with that you go out there and do your absolute best, you prepare well.”
If the Dragons do miss the finals, they can consider themselves somewhat unlucky.
Only five teams this century have missed the finals when finishing on 28 points or more – a figure the Red V will reach if they win one of their last two games.
With a points differential of +87, they boast a better record than any team to have missed the play-offs in the 2000s excluding clubs docked points for salary cap offences.
To put it in perspective, that figure is behind only Melbourne and Brisbane this season – who sit first and second on the ladder.
“It tells you we’re not far away,” McGregor said.
“It also shows how much we’ve grown and how much football we have in us to be third-best in the competition.
“But we haven’t got the results we need at certain times. We’ve lost a few games we shouldn’t have, and we need to be more resilient at times and play for the full 80 minutes.
“Once we get these next two weeks out of the way and we make finals, it proves that we can foot it with anyone.”
STATS THAT MATTER
* The Dragons have rebounded to score 28.8 points per game in the past five weeks.
* Penrith have won seven straight for the first time since their premiership-winning 2003 season.
* The Dragons still average the most metres (1522), tackle busts (35.9) and offloads (13.2) per game.
Source: Fox Sports Stats
