Dragons five-eighth Gareth Widdop has been ruled out of Saturday's match against the Wests Tigers, with youngster Drew Hutchison to start in his place.

Widdop picked up a corked thigh against the Titans last weekend and has been ruled out of this week's match.

Hutchison, a Junior Kangaroo and NSW under-20s representative, will make his third NRL appearance.

The Dragons are set to finish eighth and reach the NRL finals unless they suffer a massive loss to the Tigers.