The Bulls dominated for large parts of the clash at Laurie Daley Oval but struggled to find their way over the try line.

Twice they hit back to level things but despite having an extra man for the last 10 minutes couldn't find the winning try.

Coach James Luff admitted the 12-10 loss was tough to take.

"If we were beaten by a side I thought was better than us I'd be accepting of defeat," Luff said."

"We came so close but you have to give credit to them, they had good online defence and we probably didn't throw too much shape at them.

"A bit of wind and wet weather makes it a bit hard to move the ball around and they took a couple of opportunities with a long range try with not long to go.

"I felt we were the better side but just couldn't capitalise on their line."

The Dragons dictated early and took advantage of the weight of possession as Matt Deblanco scored after 14 minutes.

Riverina had a number of chances and finally got on the board two minutes out from half-time when Brayden Draber sliced through.

Draber was then denied a try after the siren to see the two teams heading into the break locked at 6-all.

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Both sides had some good opportunities early in the second half but it wasn't until the rain came with 18 minutes to play before either could add to the scoreboard.

It was Illawarra who turned defence into attack as they diffused an attacking kick before racing 100 metres to score a couple of plays later through.

A sideline conversion from Blair Grant, which came hit the upright, handed the Dragons a 12-6 lead.

With Kayne Brennan sin binned, Riverina got within two points as Latrell Siegwalt crossed with eight to play.

It set up a frenetic finish but despite a couple of good chances the Bulls couldn't come up with the big play.

Luff rued the side's inability to make the most of their opportunities.

"We were finding our points on the field but just couldn't break through," he said. "It's a real shame we couldn't build a bit more pressure, put the foot on to just roll it in but we just tried to take the opportunity as it came.

"We probably played a bit too sideways on a wet track."

Riverina now need some unlikely results to go their way to make the semi-finals.