$1 million reinvention of Jamie Soward
Steve Gee From: The Daily Telegraph March 09, 2010 12:00AM
JAMIE Soward - the player dumped mid-season by the Roosters and cruelly called a "speed hump" in defence at the Dragons - completed his remarkable transformation into an elite player yesterday when St George Illawarra handed him a new three-year deal worth more than $1 million.
After a remarkable 2009 season, Soward, 22, will be a foundation block on which the famous Red V builds its future after the Dragons confirmed they viewed the speedy, goal-kicking No. 6 as a long-term player.
For Soward, the contract extension provides security he could only have dreamt of when the Roosters granted him immediate release through the 2007 season.
And it has Soward chomping at the bit heading into the season opener against Parramatta at Parramatta Stadium on Friday night.
"It's a show of faith from the club that hopefully they are happy with what I'm doing and where I'm going," a proud Soward said yesterday.
"Three years is the longest one I've signed so I'm very happy to be staying. It's a lot of security that recently I haven't had."
Related Coverage
I'll fight to stay at St George Daily Telegraph, 27 Jan 2010
Jamie Soward lauds Adrian Lam Fox Sports, 11 Dec 2009
Soward's message to self Daily Telegraph, 12 Sep 2009
Sailor ready to be tested Fox Sports, 10 Sep 2009
Dragons stutter to second loss Daily Telegraph, 21 Aug 2009
The latest league star to emerge from the prodigious junior ranks of Wagga revealed it was a mid-season call from coach Wayne Bennett in '08 that began his personal transformation.
Having signed with the Dragons and with an eye already projecting on his new club, Bennett phoned Soward with a few words of assurance.
"When I first came to the Dragons it was sort of the last club to maybe make a name or play first grade at so if I didn't make it here I probably wasn't going to make it anywhere," Soward said.
"Wayne called me halfway through '08 and said 'I'm coming next year and I see you in my plans' so it's just sort of carried on from there. It means a lot for someone like Wayne to say that.
"I owe a lot to Wayne just for believing in me."
Granted an immediate release by the Roosters halfway through the 2007 season, Soward was picked up as a bargain buy by former St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown.
But despite steering the side for 12 months, the five-eighth was inexplicably overlooked for the Dragons' 2008 finals loss to Manly as senior players convinced Brown Ben Rogers was a safer option.
It was another blow to a player maligned as a "speed hump" in defence and flaky under pressure, but all that turned around in 2009 as the speedy playmaker tore opposition defences apart with his pinpoint kicking and running game.
Now, Soward is determined to find another cog in 2010.
"Last year's last year," he said.
"If anything I see it more as a platform for this year. The team went well last year so hopefully we can play good as a team again and carry on from that."
Soward admits it has taken time to find his feet at NRL level.
"Probably the biggest help for me was playing Premier League," he said. "Playing against blokes that were on the fringe of first grade when I was at Newtown [Roosters' feeder club] was a big help."
Soward urged clubs to show patience with young playmakers. "At the moment the gap's probably a bit big and you've got some 20s guys just not making the grade [and] missing out which is a shame, but hopefully blokes stick at it and clubs see the potential there and keep re-signing them," he said.
Source:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-of-jamie-soward/story-e6frexnr-1225838357432
