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Corey Norman kicked an 88th-minute golden point field goal to give St George Illawarra a 13-12 win over Newcastle in the NRL.

Corey Norman nailed his second game-winning field goal in as many weeks to give St George Illawarra a 13-12 golden point NRL win over Newcastle.

Norman missed shots late in regular time and in the first period of extra time but then coolly slotted his third attempt in the 88th minute on Sunday.

The Knights also had opportunities to steal the win, but Mitchell Pearce missed both of his attempts, including one that just sailed wide from halfway.

Norman's 42-metre clincher came after an ineffective midfield bomb from Pearce, who struggled with his kicking game for most of the night.

"He wants the footy in important times and that's what your better playmakers do," coach Paul McGregor said of Norman.

"They want to go after the game instead of trying to hide away from it and that's one thing he's done in the last couple of weeks.

"He's wanted that footy in the right time and he's come up with two clutch plays."

The shattering loss took the gloss off an improved showing from Kalyn Ponga, who set up two tries at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Ponga didn't take a single attempt at a field goal.

"I'm sure he can kick them, but we've got a few things there we can look at, as Corey Norman missed a couple and Ben Hunt," coach Nathan Brown said.

"They just end up nailing one."

Making his return start in the No.1 jumper following his unsuccessful five-eighth experiment, Ponga was back to his dynamic best with 169 metres.

But it mattered little as the Knights failed to capitalise on his strong display, which had given them a two-point lead at halftime.

Neither team was able to gain ascendancy after the break, with Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa scoring the only try of the half.

A Ponga penalty goal in the 63rd minute levelled the scores, however that would be the end of the points in regular time.

It didn't take long for Ponga to justify Brown's backflip on the positional switch, with Edrick Lee the beneficiary of an incredible cutout pass in the 11th minute.

The Dragons got one against the run of play when Tyson Frizell, making an early return from a lacerated testicle, stripped Pearce one-on-one.

However Ponga returned serve with another piece of magic, throwing a face-ball for centre Hymel Hunt to get the crowd of 19,105 on their feet.

Dragons forward Korbin Sims could be looking at some time on the sidelines after suffering a suspected broken arm despite playing with it for 20 minutes.