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Chad Townsend kicked a golden-point field goal to help Cronulla to a 13-12 win over St George Illawarra, but it was Mawene Hiroti who went from villain to hero.

Chad Townsend and Mawene Hiroti have gone from villains to Cronulla heroes, helping them overcome two sin-bins as they beat St George Illawarra 13-12.

After a dramatic Friday night when three men were binned and eight put on report, both sides could be fielding heavily depleted teams next week.

It prompted Dragons coach Anthony Griffin to claim he was confused over perceived inconsistencies in the NRL's crackdown while Sharks counterpart Josh Hannay warned the game mustn't be allowed to turn into touch football.

But on the field at least, it was Hannay, Townsend and Hiroti who had the last laugh.

After the Sharks dominated the first half but could only score one try through Connor Tracey, the game swung when Hiroti hit Cody Ramsey high right on fulltime.

Ramsey was ruled out of the match after failing his HIA, while Hiroti was sent to the sin-bin with Griffin claiming he should have been sent off.

The incident allowed the Dragons to level the scores just after the break, before Max Feagai scored a second to have them four points up with Josh Dugan also binned.

But that was only the start of the drama.

Cronulla looked to have the match won when Matt Moylan put Will Kennedy over to make it 12-10 while still down a man.

But a Teig Wilton crusher again allowed the Dragons to level the scores.

After both sides failed at field goal attempts, Hiroti was again in the thick of the action.

With 45 seconds to play the Sharks winger dropped a pass from a 20-metre tap, handing the Dragons the perfect chance to win the game.

Corey Norman again missed a drop goal, sending the game to golden point.

Then, at long last, it was Hiroti's chance to be the hero.

The 22-year-old burst downfield from inside his own 20-metre zone on the fourth tackle, putting Cronulla on the attack.

And while Townsend had a field goal charged down for a second time to go with five errors, he finally landed it on the third attempt to stop the Sharks losing streak at six.

"Chaddy wasn't perfect tonight but he is certainly the guy he will go to in those moments," Hannay said.

"It wasn't Mawene's best night, but he's been one of our better players for the past six weeks.

"I'm glad he had a good moment to finish the game.

"Because it probably could have been a different night for Ma going home stewing on a performance like he'd had."

Cronulla will still count the cost, with Blayke Brailey (crusher tackle) and Briton Nikora (high tackle) also on report.

Paul Vaughan's sin-binning, though, was arguably the most controversial of the night.

With the Dragons on the back foot in the first half, Vaughan was stunned when binned for taking Will Chambers high.

Chambers had been cut in half by an Andrew McCullough tackle and was falling, but the contact was still direct with the chin.

The loss leaves the Saints susceptible to the chasing pack, after already entering the game with nine players out and potentially set to lose more to concussion and suspension.

"It would have been one of the best victories I had been involved in if we got up tonight," Griffin said.

"It was wild in the last 15 minutes. We had the chance to win the football game but we didn't."