Soward has skills like Alfie
By David Riccio
From:
The Sunday Telegraph
ST GEORGE Illawarra five-eighth Jamie Soward has earned the greatest compliment of his career, with supercoach Wayne Bennett comparing him to Brisbane Broncos legend Allan Langer.
In the countdown to the Dragons' minor premiership-winning performance against Parramatta on Friday night, Bennett spoke to
The Sunday Telegraph about all things football, declaring:
> He doesn't support a total alcohol ban across clubs;
> NRL boss David Gallop should appoint an independent panel to police off-field behaviour;
> He returns home to Brisbane just once a month to be with his family; and
> His only fear is that the Dragons could waste a golden chance to win the premiership.
Bennett said he sat back in Brisbane last year watching on as Soward became a human punching bag.
In his 21 years at the Broncos, he said he'd analysed hundreds of players but had never seen anything like this. "I used to watch him from afar, but every time he sneezed there seemed to be a headline. If he dropped the ball it was a disaster,'' Bennett said.
"Darren Lockyer copped a fair bit of it when he made the move to five-eighth. But for Jamie, a guy who didn't have a big reputation in the game, he certainly took a lot of hits."
"As a player, I don't know of anyone who's got much more criticism. But I have to say what a wonderful talent he is. I couldn't believe how much skill he had when I got here."
"I liken him a lot to Allan Langer. In terms of his natural skill and ball in his hands and ability to read the game ... he's quite remarkable."
"I'm not saying he's the same player as Allan Langer, but there are lots of similarities. I also don't think it's fair to say that Jamie has to go up another level [for the finals], there's a whole football team here that has to answer that question.''
BAD-BOY TRIBUNAL
Bennett says he has "loved'' watching the fans react in numbers to a season tarnished by poor off-field player behaviour.
But until players understand their privileged role in the community, Bennett says the NRL should invest in further educational tools while also rejecting alcohol bans as a solution.
"They (alcohol ban) wouldn't work in your business and they're not going to work in mine,'' Bennett said. "I don't know if it's a losing battle, but it's certainly one we've got to change in terms of our education process ... the issue for the player is there's a lot of unfairness out there because they're a league player."
"But they've just got to live with that. They've got to accept if they've chosen to play rugby league then they've chosen a different set of rules. If they think that's unfair, then they can give up playing and go do what Mr John Public does.''
Bennett said it was an indictment on the game's professionalism that Gallop was responsible for imposing penalties. "It doesn't matter what you have, you'll always get perceived inconsistencies,'' Bennett said. "You get them in every courtroom, every day."
"But my argument is that the chief executive of our game should not be someone who has to get dragged over the coals by the media and everybody else."
"He's there to represent the game, take it forward, give strategic plans - all the things chief executives do - not be a judge and jury on player behaviour. Take it out of his hands."
"And while we'll always have inconsistencies, at least he's removed. When there's a blow-up at the NRL judiciary, David Gallop does not get dragged over the coals because of a decision ... and there's never a debate on whether he was too tough or whatever.''
FAMILY LIFE
Bennett has enjoyed his move to Wollongong, but it hasn't been easy. He returned home yesterday after a month without seeing wife Trish or his three children, Justin, Katherine or Elizabeth.
"It's not ideal,'' admits the former Queensland father of the year. The issue for us was, 'what do I do?' Sit home, still want to coach and be challenged by that, or sit at home, be cranky and unfulfilled because I'm not doing what I want to do and what I've trained for 30 years to do? It wasn't practical for them to come down, but I can tell you I certainly look forward to seeing them.''
FINAL HURDLE
Despite his impact on the Dragons after just 11 months, Bennett said the minor premiership does not make him satisfied.
"We've been a good footy team and I don't want the last couple of weeks to diminish what these guys have done,'' he said. "I don't fear the next month. But I do fear that if we don't get our act back together it will be an opportunity lost.''
