Soward (early release)

[BennyV]

Price does my head in.. why wait this long without trying anything, then tell him hes free to go?

Only way this makes sense is that we have a halfback signed in the bag.. but even then id have played Soward+new halfback.

Cant agree Rev - Fien is busting his ass out there, trying things and actually had a handful of try assists to his name, the only thing letting him down is his speed. Soward isn't looking to be putting in the same effort, he submits in tackles and doesn't want to go within 2m of the defensive line. And when question about his form, he falls back on the fact that he played SOO and won a premiership 2 years ago, without taking any responsibility for what he's doing now.

Dont get me wrong, I was a huge Soward fan...but if a young halfback or 5/8 is going to come into this team, I'd prefer him to learn the ropes from Fien at the moment..

 

[FlameThrower]

Has anyone considered impact on team morale about this? This can go all pear shaped really quickly, Exhibit A - Bennet signs to Newcastle,our winning streak finishes and loss the last 8 10 games! Unless there is high profile half waiting to be announced I don't like sound of this.

 

[Mr Red]

There's more to this. If this happens it would have more to do with his attitude than his on field performances. Hes privately filthy that the club didnt offer him a contract. That at some point surely has to have an impact on him personally and professionally.

i have mentioned in this forum on numerous times the ongoing rift between Price and Soward, and not offering him a contract is the culmination of this rift.
there was simply no way the team could function with both Soward and Price, one had to go - and the board has backed keeping Price and ditching Soward.
IMO i think we did need a change, however i think both Soward and Price should have been moved on, it seems a poor decision to keep a coach who has no man management skills at all and is causing the team to be the easy beats of the comp.

 

[murraymob]

you think any decent coach if he has a problem would just drop him to reggies but keep him to the end of the year to cover injuries at the least.Soward has been the scape goat for a very lame pack of forwards.Our pack at penrith is okay with out being great rolled right through the dragons with ease.Fix your forwards the rest will fall into place

 

[Slippery Morris]

If a player did not get on with a coach they would be dropped. I don't think that same rule applies if a player does not get on with a muppet, because that is what we have here.

 

[Godz Illa]

The telling moment for me was: 15 odd minutes into the second half we finally had an attacking set, and on the third tackle, with Soward puts a chip across field that sails over everyone's head intop touch on the full. The thing is, it wasn't even on. The defence had marked up comfortably and Vidot had, at absolute best, a 50-50 shot. An awful decision, awfully executed. Not sure how the forwards can be blamed for something like that.

That said, Rein was still our worst player.

 

[SilentAssassin]

I do think Soward does cop it more then he deserves but I think it's time to move on if any of it is true.

Either way it seems like tough times ahead for the dragons. There's certainly a lot bigger problems then Soward.

Hopefully this rough patch doesn't affect Dugan's chances of staying because he along with Jack Debelin have been the only bright spots of the season so far.

 

[KiamaSaint]

The telling moment for me was: 15 odd minutes into the second half we finally had an attacking set, and on the third tackle, with Soward puts a chip across field that sails over everyone's head intop touch on the full. The thing is, it wasn't even on. The defence had marked up comfortably and Vidot had, at absolute best, a 50-50 shot. An awful decision, awfully executed. Not sure how the forwards can be blamed for something like that.

That said, Rein was still our worst player.

I disagree, the try was on. Let's not forget that Fien put in some poor kicks as well half way through sets.

I can't believe how many of you are so willing to let him go, but hey it was clear on Friday Gould knew who he had and how to use him. If true, shame on you Dragons.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Spot on Godz with Rein. He was aweful. You were scared each time he got the ball he would throw a forward pass or drop it. Has he thrown a forward pass in every game this season?

King made a huge difference when he came on.

Hopefully Rein can get back to last years form because he was pretty good last year. Must be going through second year syndrome.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Soward will go well at Penrith because the coach will drop him if he plays terrible not let him get away with it like he has when Price has been in charge. He always seems to lift when his spot is on the line.

 

[Dragons_Head]

I disagree, the try was on. Let's not forget that Fien put in some poor kicks as well half way through sets.

I can't believe how many of you are so willing to let him go, but hey it was clear on Friday Gould knew who he had and how to use him. If true, shame on you Dragons.

spot on! gus knows how to use soward, price doesnt.. i dont understand why we use fien as our go to playmaker and kicker, it does my head in:crazy:

 

[Tommax25]

Reading the full tele article, seems like its more a case of Soward vs Price again, we all assumed he would drop him to cutters for a few weeks, but seems like it might have boiled to a head and they just want him gone completely.

Penrith's christmases have come at once.. if they have the cash to pay upfront.. maybe we will use the transfer fee to pay for Rangi's transfer, or pay out Price's contract.

Why would Penrith pay you a tranfer fee when you are the ones who want him gone? They'd be doing you a favour, not the other way around.

 

[Mr Red]

The telling moment for me was: 15 odd minutes into the second half we finally had an attacking set, and on the third tackle, with Soward puts a chip across field that sails over everyone's head intop touch on the full. The thing is, it wasn't even on. The defence had marked up comfortably and Vidot had, at absolute best, a 50-50 shot. An awful decision, awfully executed. Not sure how the forwards can be blamed for something like that.

That said, Rein was still our worst player.

there was another instance late in the first half where on the back of a penalty we started a full set of six only 40 meters out.. we went side to side and after 5 tackles only made 3 meters, resulting in a defensive kick on the end... disgraceful..

 

[ghostface]

The telling moment for me was: 15 odd minutes into the second half we finally had an attacking set, and on the third tackle, with Soward puts a chip across field that sails over everyone's head intop touch on the full. The thing is, it wasn't even on. The defence had marked up comfortably and Vidot had, at absolute best, a 50-50 shot. An awful decision, awfully executed. Not sure how the forwards can be blamed for something like that.

That said, Rein was still our worst player.

Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident and the lack of composure is systemic.

 

[Elias1983]

there was another instance late in the first half where on the back of a penalty we started a full set of six only 40 meters out.. we went side to side and after 5 tackles only made 3 meters, resulting in a defensive kick on the end... disgraceful..

Was that the same set where they offloaded about 6 times and made no ground?

I was actually laughing at that, it looked like it was hot potatoe!

 

[Ribs]

It is a dirty article written by a grubby sharks fan. No substance, sources or quotes.

I think the article is more a shot at Gould for signing him given Rothfield and Gould's long running distaste for each other.

Soward isn't playing well but he isn't the only one on that list.

Hopefully this will fire Sowie up.

 

[ghostface]

there was another instance late in the first half where on the back of a penalty we started a full set of six only 40 meters out.. we went side to side and after 5 tackles only made 3 meters, resulting in a defensive kick on the end... disgraceful..

Forward passes, cut out passes into touch, silly offloads and trick kicks reeks of a team lost for answers.

 

[TheRev]

Why would Penrith pay you a tranfer fee when you are the ones who want him gone? They'd be doing you a favour, not the other way around.

Hes still better off playing for the cutters than playing for your opposition in 2013... unless we actually need the money right now which I doubt, we have plenty of money under the cap left afaik.

The same way that we are asking for a release of Keary or Williams etc.. it wont come free.

 

[twinkletoes]

Jamie Soward has been a wonderful player for the Dragons. Even this season when the team is going so poorly if you look through the majority of games it seems to me that Soward has been involved in some capacity in most of the tries we have scored...whether cut out passes, kicks or line breaks. He has been the only spark in the backline close to the ruck. Even last Saturady it was Soward's long cutout pass that setup the last Prior try...and he scored our first try...so to say he is not contributing I think is inaccurate. So even last Saturday he was vitally involved in our 2 tries...what are the rest of the team doing??? Sure, the spark hasn't happended as often as we would like, but noone else has done anything. And yes, his goalkicking is going through a slump at the moment (lack of confidence) but in the current circumstances I still think he offers something to the team. Chase Stanley is a good goalkicker...give it to him to relieve Soward of some pressure.

I would be looking at keeping Soward and introducing Drinkwater to see of we can get some more spark close to the ruck...and maybe giving Vai Vai or Quinlan a run in the backline.

 

[dragonv]

Soward will win many more games for his team. Just not for us.