WHEN Wendell Sailor joined St George Illawarra in May after completing his two-year drugs ban, the former Wallabies star told coach Nathan Brown he had made the finals in each of his nine seasons with the Brisbane Broncos and expected to do the same at the Dragons.

Now with a record of 12 wins from as many games for the Dragons or their feeder teams in the Jim Beam Cup and Queensland Cup, Sailor boasts of being the joint venture club's lucky charm and is determined to extend his unbeaten run to tonight's final-round match against Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Football Stadium.

But helping St George Illawarra secure a top-four berth if the Broncos lose to Newcastle in Brisbane isn't the 34-year-old dual international's only incentive.

"I've got some good memories from playing at [SFS], but I think last time I was there it wasn't real good after the game against the Brumbies," Sailor said yesterday.

"I think we won by about 40 points and I had a good game but what translated after that probably wasn't the happiest weekend for me or the happiest times for me.

"I was enjoying myself at the Waratahs. We were a pretty close-knit group and we were winning games, but unfortunately I left on bad terms with my suspension … I certainly went on my little holiday after that and let a few of the Waratahs supporters and that down."

The match against the Roosters will be Sailor's first time back at the SFS and the first time he has played against his close mate, Willie Mason.

At the end of last season when Mason quit the Bulldogs, Sailor accompanied him on a trip to North Queensland, and the pair became the subject of constant ribbing after being photographed rubbing sunscreen on each other.

While Sailor has enjoyed a successful return to the NRL, Mason has been the subject of criticism for his recent form with the Roosters, and last month he was voted the competition's most overrated player in the annual Rugby League Week players' poll.

However, again he has received support from Sailor.

"Willie and I had a bit of a joke about that the other day," Sailor said of their off-season holiday. "One thing I know about Willie is that when you bag someone of his calibre there is only one way to respond, and I just don't think that Willie is playing as bad as everyone thinks he is.

"I certainly don't think that he is overrated because there aren't too many overrated players who win Clive Churchill medals [as the grand final man of the match] and man of the matches in Origins and Test matches, so I'm quite fearful of Willie."

But Sailor nominated former Test fullback Anthony Minichiello as the Roosters' danger man after he was cleared to return in the last match before the finals from a back injury that has sidelined him for 11 weeks.

Since winning the Golden Boot award as the world's best player in 2005, the 28-year-old international has played just 22 NRL games due to persistent back problems, and both he and team-mates feared for his future before Roosters officials forced a cautious Minichiello to play a NSW Cup match for Newtown last weekend to test himself.

"I think Minichiello is the X-factor that they need at the moment and I think he could really spring them into the Roosters that they were at the start of the season," Sailor said.

After losing three of their past four matches, the Roosters need to win to retain fourth place, and if they do so will host the Broncos in next Friday night's opening finals match.

A Dragons win would result in a rematch at WIN Stadium next Friday night if Newcastle were to beat the Broncos. Should St George Illawarra and the Broncos both win, the Dragons would travel to Brisbane.