St George faced the Sydney Roosters in the Holden Cup preliminary final at Allianz Stadium on September 23 but went down 26-20.

The Dragons lead 14-0 at the break with Payne scoring the side’s second try late in the first half.

But the Roosters hit back in the second half and scored the winning try within the final 10 minutes.

“I was a bit guttered. It would have been good to get to the [grand] final but I can’t complain over all,” Payne said.

“We just couldn’t match it with them in defence. They were running too hard and they beat us through the middle.”

At the start of the season the Dragons were sitting towards the bottom of the ladder but pulled themselves together and finished third on the competition ladder.

Payne, who played in every game throughout the season said he hoped to progress to the Illawarra Cutters team next year.

“I’ll just wait and see what happens. I think I improved a fair bit this year and it was good to get plenty of time out on the field,” he said.

The Roosters will take on the Penrith Panthers in the Holden Cup decider on October 2 with kick off at 1.35pm at ANZ Stadium.