Despite the bulging casualty ward, Cronulla made the Dragons work hard for their victory.
They even had the hide to score a couple of tries midway through the second half to get within eight points.
When former Dragon Josh Dugan celebrated what he thought was a try to possibly get the Sharks within four points on the hour mark, the 17,882 home fans who braved a bit of lightning at WIN Stadium were entitled to fear an unthinkable fightback.
But the bunker ruled Valentine Holmes had knocked the ball forward in the lead-up with what Andrew Johns described on the Channel Nine commentary as his ''rude finger'', and the Cronulla comeback ended.
The result was put to bed minutes later when Jack de Belin scored at the other end and ensured the perfect start to the season for the Red V.
Should the New Zealand Warriors beat Brisbane on Saturday at home, it will set up a top-of-the-table clash next Friday between the only two undefeated teams after six rounds.
The sight of Matt Dufty rocketing 40m through a gap to score the opening try of the night was a joy, but Fifita almost topped it minutes later when he chased hard after the kick-off, leapt high to gather the ball and put the Sharks on the attack.
Injured Cronulla captain Paul Gallen looks on.
Photo: AAP
Fifita hobbled from the field about five minutes before the break and returned for the second half on crutches.
His skipper hung around just 13 minutes when he was caught awkwardly in a tackle attempting a rare grubber kick. Initial reports were Gallen had suffered a medial strain, not an ACL rupture.
Graham did not last long into the second half, while Lewis capped a shocking night five minutes out from full-time.
Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan will be flat out finding fit players to run out against Penrith next Sunday.
As for the Dragons, there were plenty of solid performers, including speedster Dufty who bagged a double. There would not be many rivals in the NRL quicker than the fleet-footed fullback over 40m.
And Cam McInnes was given 10 minutes in the sin-bin early in the first half, but returned refreshed and channelled South Sydney – and NSW No. 9 rival – Damien Cook from a night earlier to race 45m and score.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 40 (M Dufty 2 E Aitken J De Belin C McInnes P Vaughan tries G Widdop 8 goals) bt CRONULLA 20 (J Brailey V Holmes E Lee R Leutele tries C Townsend 2 goals) at WIN Stadium. Referees: Gavin Badger, Ashley Klein. Crowd: 17,882.
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Christian covers rugby league for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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