http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/the-lowdown-dragons-v-roosters/story-e6frfgbo-1226442376190
i hope price reads this.
excerpt:
SHORTLY before kick-off, there was a quiet confidence among senior Roosters officials who bore long memories and deep scars. Given their club entered last night's clash against a desperate Dragons outfit with just one victory from their past 10 outings, it was almost eerie.
"I'll tell you why," a senior Roosters official whispered.
"Because that Jamie Soward has the game of his life every time he plays us.
"Dropping him is the best thing that could happen."
They were right. With Soward safely confined to the stands in a jacket and jeans, the Roosters last night scored just their second victory over St George Illawarra in 10 matches since 2008.
That was Soward's first full season in Wollongong, following a split from the Roosters because he was stranded in reserve grade.
The delicious irony is that Soward was not in action because he'd been relegated to NSW Cup once again.
Whether he might have bridged the final 16-point margin is debatable.
His uncanny record of starring displays against the Roosters suggest so, and replacement Nathan Fien's mixed evening has left the door ajar for a top grade return next weekend.
But it might already be too late, with the Dragons now needing to win their remaining four matches to stay alive.
And with a lowly differential of minus 66, they will also have to rely on other results falling in their favour.
Coach Steve Price was frustrated, understandably so after last Friday night's performance against Melbourne that made him loathe to change a winning combination to accommodate Soward's return from a back injury.
Instead, the pair watched the misery unfold together in the Away Coaches box.
See how we covered the game at out match centre.http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/game?matchid=NRL20122202
For all but 10 minutes - when the Roosters were reduced to 12 men thanks to B.J. Leulia's sin-binning - it was unpleasant viewing.
When Leilua departed in the 55th minute, St George Illawarra trailed 14-0.
When he returned, the deficit was eroded to 14-10 after Fien laid on both tries to atone for an earlier shepherd and dropped kick-off.
Price felt his team had the momentum, but it turned sharply when Roosters rookie Roger Tuivasa-Sheck put Mitchell Pearce away for a length of the field try eight minutes from the siren.
There was dispute from the Dragons when the 18-year-old grounded the ball in-goal after slipping, but the NRL later declared play-on was the correct call because it was accidental.
But according to Roosters skipper Braith Anasta, there was nothing accidental about the result.
"The only time the Dragons looked like scoring was when we had one bloke off," he chirped.
To be fair, Dragons winger Brett Morris had two tries disallowed because of forward passes, and another in the first half denied by a crucial Tuivasa-Sheck bump into touch.
The Kiwi teen also came up with a try-saver on Nathan Green.
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 26 (M Pearce 3 J Leilua tries B Anasta 5 goals) bt ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 10 (B Creagh M Prior tries B Hornby goal) at Allianz Stadium. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Gavin Morris. Crowd: 12,528.
