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St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor believes his side requires six wins from their final eight games to make the NRL finals.

Six wins from eight games.

That's the equation St George Illawarra face if they want to make the NRL finals, according to coach Paul McGregor after he crunched the numbers on his side's fading top eight hopes.

McGregor raised eyebrows on Sunday when he insisted his side was not only still in finals contention, they were capable of winning the entire competition following their 36-14 mauling at the hands of Canberra.

If left them in 14th spot and two wins outside the top eight on 14 points.

In recent times, the traditional cut-off for eighth-spot has been 28 points.

But with the NRL draw being restructured last year so that each side only has one bye, that's expected to lower the bar to 26 points.

With James Graham (leg) returning against Penrith on Friday and skipper Gareth Widdop (shoulder) expected back the following week against South Sydney, McGregor insisted anything is possible.

"I think 26 will get you in, I've felt that for a little while now. I haven't changed my opinion there," he said.

"I still think anyone on their day can beat anyone, that's what the salary cap does, it brings everyone in tight.

"When you've got key players missing it divides a little bit.

"With James returning for us and Gareth possibly next week, we're getting back to a full strength team.

"There's no reason we can't win consecutive games consistently to finish the year. We've just got to make sure we go out and do it through our actions."