Soward (early release)

[dragonv]

Drop Soward...ok but not before you drop Fien.

 

[Dragons_Head]

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.

thats well put, for some unknown reason the majority of our attack is being organised down the right side by fien which i believe is mistake.. our left hand edge is more dangerous and this is giving the illusion that soward isn't getting involved, we need to be playing to his kicking game like we used to in the bennett days

 

[TheRev]

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..

Interesting perspective, and I totally get that Fien tries every week, I love his attitude.. but I also feel like its pretty clear that hes not a 1st grade halfback, so to keep him seems a strange choice and we will be a lot more dependent on his kicking and passing game which is something that Sowie is a lot better at...

The other option is a double change, Drinkwater+Cook or Drinkwater+Quinlan or Drinkwater+Dugen, but its too much risk at once without grooming one of them in the cutters, so perhaps we take a chance on Drinkwater+Fien first and see if DW is up to it (he needs to be given a few weeks minimum though).

 

[Packy]

What a piece of shit article.

I distinctly remember Nightingale supporting Soward after missing the kick. Whether that is just another credit to jason I don't know but watching it i really felt that he was in Sowards corner.

 

[BennyV]

What a piece of shit article.

I distinctly remember Nightingale supporting Soward after missing the kick. Whether that is just another credit to jason I don't know but watching it i really felt that he was in Sowards corner.

Nightingale is a scholar and a gentleman. Regardless of issues within the club, there was no way he'd let a teammates go unsupported after such a pivotal moment.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Lets wait and see if ANYONE gets dropped this week. They managed to retain their spots after scoring nil points. This week the scored 2 tries. Price will see that as improvement and justified his views of sticking by his players.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Geyer on 2MMM this morning said Soward has no support of his players and after getting knees in the back it was evident as no players backed him up.

I am pretty sure Vidot ran in and grabbed Barba and pushed him away. He made it sound as if no Dragons player gave a $hite but surely that was not the case. Did anyone else see anything different towards Barba after that incident?

 

[krispyredv]

Lets wait and see if ANYONE gets dropped this week. They managed to retain their spots after scoring nil points. This week the scored 2 tries. Price will see that as improvement and justified his views of sticking by his players.

The only player I would drop is Rein, he single handedly lost us the match.

 

[Elias1983]

Geyer on 2MMM this morning said Soward has no support of his players and after getting knees in the back it was evident as no players backed him up.

I am pretty sure Vidot ran in and grabbed Barba and pushed him away. He made it sound as if no Dragons player gave a $hite but surely that was not the case. Did anyone else see anything different towards Barba after that incident?

Yeh heard that.

Gee geyer talks a lot of shit his column in rugby league week, his comments about the game in general on triple mmm are pathetic.

Vidot came in after and shoved barba in the face. There weren't any other players around because the try came off a bulldogs mistke from a kick, they came and congratulated him after.

Geyer is useless wanker!

 

[Changaman]

The article was titled "Phil Rothfield says".
Say no more.
If you want to impart blame, why don't you statr with Peter Doust and his management of the Dragon. Why don't you look at the rumours that talk about Doust and Craig Young not giving Price any support, why don't you look at Chase Stanley's dreadfull defence. Look at the whole shape and form of the Dragons attack.

There is a culture problem at the Dragons and this sort of thing usually starts at the top.

 

[Mr Red]

Geyer on 2MMM this morning said Soward has no support of his players and after getting knees in the back it was evident as no players backed him up.

I am pretty sure Vidot ran in and grabbed Barba and pushed him away. He made it sound as if no Dragons player gave a $hite but surely that was not the case. Did anyone else see anything different towards Barba after that incident?

yes Vidot did offer support.. i think the rest of the players either didnt see it, or didnt think it was a big deal due to the fact Soward simply walked away and didnt make a big deal of it himself.
if Soward fired up and pushed Barba, or was injured i suspect the team would have offered more support..

 

[BennyV]

The article was titled "Phil Rothfield says".
Say no more.
If you want to impart blame, why don't you statr with Peter Doust and his management of the Dragon. Why don't you look at the rumours that talk about Doust and Craig Young not giving Price any support, why don't you look at Chase Stanley's dreadfull defence. Look at the whole shape and form of the Dragons attack.

There is a culture problem at the Dragons and this sort of thing usually starts at the top.

Really? A culture problem that starts with Doust? There is nothing wrong with the culture at the Dragons, the players are all very close and very well-behaved, they may be getting a bit lazy but it has nothing to do with Doust...

I thought we'd all moved on from the Oust Doust crap...

 

[krispyredv]

If soward leaves now we will turn to crap, leave him there to prove his worth for the rest of the season, drop rein and have a king, fein rotation for a while. Blood Drinkwater at half. When Rein cuts the crap out of his game get him back in and if drink water is going well enough. Fein misses out.

 

[Old_Timer]

Coach Price needed a distraction to take some heat off himself. So Jamie becomes the sacrificial lamb (be assured there will be others). The same Jamie who scored our first try against the Dogs and threw the cut out pass for the second.

Ok so Jamie is no longer in our team. Who then will throw the deft cut out passes, produce the attacking kicks as we are unable to make ground otherwise, take the intercepts, are best of all, confront Coach Price with the reality of being the inept coach that he is.

Yes boys and girls, Coach Price has our winning strategy well in hand. We will just work through the non believers and all will be well.

 

[ghostface]

I thought we'd all moved on from the Oust Doust crap...

It's the Dice Price era.

 

[Old_Timer]

...... There is nothing wrong with the culture at the Dragons, ...

Yes the siege mentality currently being portrayed at our Club, is just a aberration conjured up by a couple of scoundrels on here. Everything is peaches and cream at the Dragons. A tweak or two by Coach Price and the days of milk and honey will return in abundance. :?

 

[FNC Dragon]

Soward is down on form but so are many others. This is a team game and if someone isn't working for the team, then the coach needs to fix the problem. That's his job. Axeing players mid season because they don't get along with others is also ridiculous and shows just how poorly managed this club is currently. They're paid professionals and grown men and the coach/management need to sort it out. Players should only be axed for dismissable offences which bring the club or game into disrepute.

 

[saint.nick]

I don't think there's really a culture problem. All the players generally get along really well. I follow them on instagram and they all like banter and post pictures of each other on there. Dugan seems to have found a new best mate in merrin. Even soward, who goes by the alias of jimmychow on instagram, gets included in some photos from matt cooper and etc

 

[Changaman]

No BennyV, I think while Peter Doust is head of the club, he is open to critisism. He is answerable to no one. His recruitment hasn't been particularly good, with the exception of Whidop, who is a good signing, but not a great one.

I have heard, through a friend, who spoke to a trainer, that Doust and Craig Youg show no support to Steve Price, and while I cannot confirm this, I trust this information. If a CEO doesn't have faith in a coach, what does that say to the players.
Jamie Soward was asking for a renewal of his contract over a year ago and the Dragons dragged it out so long that he took an offer from Penrith. I've heard the same thng is happening with Mick Weyman, I hope we don't loose him. Culture in any team does start from the top down, so if the players are acting like a team, don't just look at the team and don't just look at the coach. It always goes further.

 

[Changaman]

I don't think there's really a culture problem. All the players generally get along really well. I follow them on instagram and they all like banter and post pictures of each other on there. Dugan seems to have found a new best mate in merrin. Even soward, who goes by the alias of jimmychow on instagram, gets included in some photos from matt cooper and etc

I'm sure that the players do get along quite well, but they are not playing like they know each other.