St George Illawarra Dragons laid down a marker for this season's National Rugby League title with a convincing 38-24 win to end South Sydney's finals bid on Sunday. The Dragons could afford to rest three key players and still crush the Rabbitohs six tries to four, to finish the regular home and away season four points clear of Penrith Panthers, Wests Tigers and Gold Coast Titans. St George Illawarra will begin their quest for the championship against eighth- placed Manly Sea Eagles at home on the opening weekend of the month-long finals' series. Second rower Ben Creagh's hat-trick of tries in the space of 11 minutes powered the Dragons to an 18-0 lead, effectively ending the Rabbitohs' hopes of making the last eight spot. Manly watched on anxiously after going down earlier to the Canterbury Bulldogs 30-24 at home, but clung on to eighth spot and a crack at the in-form Dragons next Sunday. Penrith finished second on points differential after crushing Cronulla Sharks 50-12 at home with departing backrower Frank Pritchard scoring a hat-trick of tries after agreeing last week to a three-year deal with Canterbury. The Panthers will have home advantage next Saturday against Canberra Raiders. Wests Tigers held on to third spot despite going down 21-18 to the Gold Coast Titans on Friday. The Tigers have a home final against the Sydney Roosters on Saturday while the Titans host the New Zealand Warriors next Friday. Canberra clinched a finals berth while ending Brisbane's 19-year run of finals with a tense 18-16 win at Lang Park on Friday. Sydney Roosters finished sixth after beating the North Queensland Cowboys 18-8 in Townsville on Saturday. The Roosters took close to 70 minutes to finally put away the embattled Cowboys, who were missing internationals, Johnathan Thurston, Luke O'Donnell and Willie Tonga. The New Zealand Warriors missed out on a home final but they will take plenty of momentum into the playoffs after a comfortable 26-12 victory over Parramatta on Saturday. In New Zealand Test prop Nathan Cayless' 259th and final first grade match, the Eels tried hard but their passes failed to stick -- a problem which has plagued the blue and golds all season. There was a happy ending to a miserable season for champions Melbourne Storm as they outplayed Newcastle 34-4 in their last match of the year at home on Sunday. The regular NRL season registered a record attendance with a total of 3,151,039 fans, smashing the previous record of 3,081,874 set last year. 