FIVE wins out of five kept Saints top of the pile but it was achieved at some cost with injuries to Aussie kingpin Luke Walsh, centre Jordan Turner and powerhouse Sia Soliola.

Saints were coasting at 24-0 after early tries from Josh Jones, Turner and a brace from the Tommy Makinson – the second being a wonderful effort from half way in which he weaved through a series of would be tacklers before pinning his ears back.

But the winless Dragons threw it back into the boiling pot before half time with scores from Benjamin Garcia and Eloi Pelissier.

Although second half tries from prop Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Lance Hohaia, operating as a makeshift centre, kept Saints in front, a brace from Dragons wing Michael Oldfield kept the game bubbling until Adam Swift’s late score wrapped it up at 40-22.

Brown said: “We were coasting and looking really good. But considering the weight of possession against us and the way we adjust the team, with blokes rolling all over the shop, it was probably our best win.

“That is a good sign of the spirit at the club. Any time we got an opportunity we scored or had one disallowed so our execution was good.”

Brown said the full extent of the injuries to Walsh (calf), Turner, (hamstring), or Soliola (leg) have yet to be assessed.