St George Illawarra Dragons' defence went missing in their loss to Manly at Kogarah on Saturday.

They went down 40-24 as the Sea Eagles kept their slim finals hopes alive, the second week in a row that the Dragons have conceded 40 points.

Lyhkan King-Togia scored in the ninth minute as part of a promising start by the home side but they looked to be heading for an embarrassing defeat after trailing 22-6 at halftime.

Manly prop Tof Sipley was sin-binned in the 42nd minute and Jacob Liddle and Christian Tuipulotu touched down to bring the Dragons back into the contest at 22-18.

Sea Eagles forward Corey Waddell and Tommy Talau crossed the stripe soon after Sipley returned from the sin bin as the scoreline blew out.

The Dragons have dropped to 15th on the ladder after they were top-eight contenders for most of the season.

"We've got to go out next week playing Penrith, and who knows what team they put out, but go out with some respect," Dragons coach Shane Flanagan said.

Their record now sits at 8-15 heading into Saturday's WIN Stadium showdown with the Panthers.

Gerringong Lions forward Hamish Stewart missed the match against Manly due to a recent concussion while rookie centre Hayden Buchanan made 88 run metres from 13 hit-ups and 26 tackles out wide.

In the NRLW, Kiama junior Maria Paseka continued her recent purple patch with a try in St George Illawarra's 26-18 win over the Warriors.

The Dragons have improved to a 3-6 record and moved up to a share of seventh spot with the Warriors heading into the final round.

They travel north to face Newcastle next Sunday.