The Sydney Roosters have declared the St George Illawarra pack the benchmark of the NRL ahead of their blockbuster Anzac Day showdown.
Given short shrift by the pundits, the Dragons have made a mockery of pre-season predictions by leading the competition after seven rounds.
And they've been led by their engine room, their forwards have established themselves as arguably the most formidable pack in the comp and are only behind Brisbane for metres made.
But are they the real deal and can they keep it up for another 19 rounds?
They're questions sceptics are asking, many of whom point to their 2015 season when they were first-placed after 15 rounds but only won another four games for the rest of the season, before exiting the finals in week one.
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But this Dragons side is different, insists Tricolours lock Aidan Guerra.
"I think they are (the competition benchmark), they've come out and shown to a lot of people this year that they're here to play football," Guerra said.
"They've taken a few teams by surprise, it's round eight now so we'll try and learn from the seven teams before us."
The Dragons' success this year has come on the back of their go-forward and a number of their middle men have put themselves in the frame for representative honours.
Tyson Frizell is a certainty for the NSW pack after playing a stormer in his State of Origin debut series last year while Paul Vaughan and Jack de Belin have been mentioned in dispatches but realistically will probably have to wait at least another year.
The Dragons have won their last two Anzac Day clashes with the Roosters - the biggest event on both sides' calendars outside of finals football - giving Trent Robinson's men plenty of motivation.
Asked if he rated them before a ball was kicked this year, Roosters skipper Boyd Cordner said: "I did. You look at their forward pack with Frizell, de Belin and I've always rated Vaughan. He's been a good player for years now.
"Their halves with Gareth Widdop and their outside backs, especially being coached by (Paul) McGregor, the're playing to their potential. It's no surprise to me."
