The Dragons find themselves in a peculiar position where one more slip and it’s curtains for their Group 10 season.

After dominating the first half of the year by recording 10 consecutive victories – their best start since 1986, the Dragons have slumped from premiership favourites to staring at the barrel of elimination.

They have lost not only troops in Jack Afamasaga, Corin Smith and a few others to injuries, but six of their last seven matches as well.

VIDEO: Group 10 semi-finals preview:

It all started to unravel at Carrington Park in July when they lost to Bathurst Panthers 34-12.

Coincidently they take on the Panthers on Saturday in the minor semi-final at Glen Willow.

While the Dragons have declined since that day in Bathurst, the men in black have prospered.

The Panthers have won six of their last seven matches including four on the trot.

They are without doubt the form team of the competition but injured player-coach Afamasaga said that wasn’t a concern.

“We need to forget about Panthers, we need to work on ourselves,” Afamasaga said.

“Yes, myself and Corin [Smith] have been missing for five weeks but we’ve got players who have the same calibre... it’s all mental.”

It’s that mental aspect that needs to change for the Red V – and quick.

“The boys taking the field need to take the confidence that we are capable of winning,” the former NRL forward said.

“We did win 10 in a row; we are a gun side. We need to get that mentality of winning again.

“Teams get use to losing and the boys have to snap out of it.”

Afamasaga, and most of the Dragons’ faithful, would never have thought Mudgee would be in this do-or-die situation after they led the competition for 17 of the 18 weeks.

But football is a funny game.

“We’ve got six or seven players from our starting side from round one injured. We are starting to lose troops and we can’t find the depth,” he said. 

“Different combos doesn’t help but we have been telling each other we can’t use that as an excuse.

“Every team goes through it... using injuries as an excuse is a cop out.”

Premier league kicks off at 2.30pm.

In the other grades, Bathurst St Pat’s play Lithgow in league tag (minor semi-final), Orange Hawks and Lithgow in under 18s (major semi-final), and Panthers meeting Lithgow in first division (minor semi-final).

Mudgee are the next team in the sights of the Bathurst Panthers juggernaut as John Fearnley's men head to Glen Willow to keep their Group 10 season alive.

Fearnley has a squad of players who are high on confidence after running down a 16-0 deficit last weekend against Orange Hawks and who have won six of their last seven matches.

They will also welcome back one of their biggest stars. 

"Luke Carpenter passed a fitness test on the knee he dislocated against Orange CYMS so he's going to come off the bench for us which is huge. He and Joey Bugg will share the dummy-half role," the coach said.

"Mick Ingwersen is also back from a shoulder injury, they're all coming out of the woodwork now.

"There was a lot to take out of the win over Hawks, I thought a turning point was when 'Buggy' scored, that really got us on the front foot and showed his value to the side.

"The old fellow [William Kennedy] was in great form too, he scored two solo tries out of dummy-half and just showed again how valuable he is."