St George Illawarra Dragons failed to sew up their NRL finals spot on Sunday, while Robbie Farah produced a stirring performance after a tough week.

A Dave Taylor try in the dying stages and the resultant conversion from Kane Elgey (four goals), saw the Titans claim a thrilling 28-26 win at Cbus Super Stadium.

The result keeps the Manly Sea Eagles' slim finals hopes alive, and fails to guarantee the Dragons a ticket beyond the home-and-away season.

In order to sneak into the top eight, Manly need to beat the fourth-placed Cronulla Sharks in the final round, hope the Dragons lose to Wests Tigers, and overcome a 61-point differential.

That equation would not have been valid had the Dragons held on against the Titans, but their late defensive lapse could yet prove costly.

Gareth Widdop's gut-busting try from inside his own 10-metre line had seemingly won it for the visitors to the Gold Coast, the Englishman pouncing on the Titans' mistake to regain the lead for St George inside the final 15 minutes.

But Taylor, from dummy-half, crashed his way over, and Elgey converted much to the hosts' joy.

They were the second team to climb off the bottom of the ladder in as many hours, after the Tigers' 50-16 win over the New Zealand Warriors had relegated the Gold Coast club to bottom.

Instead, the Newcastle Knights finished the day in last place, with the Titans jumping to 12th after their victory.

Earlier, Farah - told during the week he can look to move elsewhere after 13 seasons at Wests - led the Tigers in their rout of the Warriors.

One try and two assists in the opening half alone from Farah had the home fans at Campbelltown Stadium on their feet, with the 31-year-old running in the first of nine Tigers tries.

David Nofoaluma and Kevin Naiqama crossed twice, while departing veteran Pat Richards also scored a four-pointer - as did Luke Brooks, Dene Halatau, Tim Simona, and Martin Taupau.