The St George Illawarra Dragons were booed off Kogarah on Saturday evening after slumping to their fifth straight loss to start the 2026 NRL season, but an emergency mid-season signing could pave the way for things to turn a corner at the joint-venture.

After an 80 minutes of insipid attack, which saw them held scoreless in a 32-0 beatdown at the hands of the North Queensland Cowboys, it has emerged the Dragons have been locked in talks with the management of Trai Fuller over an immediate shift to Wollongong.

The star Dolphins' fullback is currently outside Kristian Woolf's side, with the club utilising Queensland Origin star Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow at fullback amid a stacked backline.

News Corp are reporting Fuller could make the immediate switch south, with a clause in his contract allowing him to abandon the Dolphins if a certain salary threshold is met.

The Dragons, who have plenty of salary cap space, will be willing to move heaven and earth to bring a player with Fuller's attacking gifts to the club.

The attack has been the biggest struggle for the Dragons so far this year who went into Saturday night's game with the Cowboys holding the fourth-most metres gained in the competition, and the highest amount of post-contact metres.

Clint Gutherson has had an ordinary start to the year in both attack and defence, and his position in the side has been widely questioned.

Add that to major questions in the halves, and there is little surprise the Dragons are wheeling and dealing behind the scenes, with the chance that Gutherson could either find himself at five-eighth, or out of the side entirely.

Coach Shane Flanagan, who apologised to fans at the post-match press conference for his side's performance, has shown an apparent lack of desire to make changes to his side both last year and into this year, but may not have a choice after the showing against the Townsville-bases side.

St George Illawarra clash with Manly next week, although it's unclear how quickly Fuller, who is out of contract at the end of 2026, could arrive at the club.

It's understood the Dragons may need to offer Fuller the 2027 season as well to secure his signature.