Daily Telegraph Sports Editor-at-large Phil Rothfield says Jamie Soward no longer wanted at St George Illawarra Dragons

ST George Illawarra would be happy for five-eighth Jamie Soward to walk away from the final four months of his contract.LIVE BLOG

Josh Mantellato

ST George Illawarra would be happy for five-eighth Jamie Soward to walk away from the final four months of his contract.

This columnist can reveal the Dragons have spoken to his manager Sam Ayoub about the possibility of an early release.

They would even throw in a Cabcharge docket to Penrith if it meant Phil Gould would take him off their hands six months early.

Certainly none of his teammates at the Dragons would be complaining.

Obviously they can't say as much publicly but we're now hearing of internal issues at the club. Soward is not one of the more popular players at the Dragons.

It irks many of the players that he so often refers to himself in the third person - Jamie Soward this, Jamie Soward that.

In recent times it's become obvious there is something seriously wrong with this St George Illawarra team.

They've lost five of their past six games, including the disgraceful 19-0 loss to Penrith at Kogarah.

In fairness, it's hardly all Soward's fault.

The club's recruitment has been so poor they don't have a first-grade halfback.

That alone has cost them more than anything else. But it's hard to believe Soward is the same player who was once brilliant enough to play Origin and lead the Dragons to the 2010 premiership.

If you were ranking five-eighths in the NRL right now, he wouldn't make the top 10.

Not ahead of Johnathan Thurston, Kieran Foran, James Maloney, Benji Marshall, Todd Carney, Josh Reynolds, John Sutton, Josh McCrone, Gareth Widdop or Terry Campese.

Soward's slump coincides with the departure of super coach Wayne Bennett, not that you could say it's entirely the fault of Steve Price.This guy is a confidence player who is obviously down on self-belief.

That he has signed with the Panthers means the Dragons won't invest time or support like they used to.

There was a rumour over the weekend that Price was close to dropping Soward to NSW Cup.

He could not be contacted yesterday to confirm it.

Anyone who watched Friday night's game against the Bulldogs could see the Soward issues from the body language.

When South Sydney score a try, every player rushes in to celebrate.

When Soward touched down in first half, I didn't notice one teammate rush over to him, even allowing for the fact he had been kneed in the back by Ben Barba.

And when he missed what would have been a game-levelling penalty goal after the siren, there was hardly a rush of players wanting to console him.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? GO TO THE 'HAVE YOUR SAY' BOX BELOW AND JOIN THE DEBATE

Those are the moments on a field that tell you a lot about a football club. About the character, the camaraderie, the solidarity and the spirit.

Gould is on record as saying Soward is a marquee signing for Penrith.

We can only hope the Panthers want him and will accept him more than the Dragons.

How Origin digs holes in NRL playing field

THE NRL is supposed to be played on a level playing field. That's why we have a salary cap that is so tightly policed.

For six weeks during the State of Origin series the competition becomes blatantly unfair.

Seven clubs provide 23 of the 34 players for Wednesday night's blockbuster .

Another seven clubs provide just 11 players while the Panthers and the Warriors carry on business as usual with all hands on deck.

No-one feels the pinch more than Cowboys coach Neil Henry, who is fighting to save his career despite having one of the most talented rosters in the competition.

He travelled to the Gold Coast yesterday without his skipper Johnathan Thurston, props Matt Scott and James Tamou plus Brent Tate.

Fullback Matt Bowen was out injured. So they are without their best five players.

Meanwhile the Knights, Tigers, Eels, Panthers and Warriors lose just three player between them.

Rabbitohs fans might complain about John Sutton and Nathan Merritt missing a Blues jumper, but there is a lot to be said now for NRL clubs signing Kiwi or English players, who you know will be available

around Origin time. If someone like George Burgess was on the open market at the same time as Tamou, it would be an interesting choice.

With Burgess, you know he's available all year and that his body won't have to survive the three most brutal games of the season.

HIGHLIGHT

George Burgess’s barnstorming second half-try against the Knights was an awesome display of power and strength from the 120kg colossus.

LOWLIGHT

Dumped Sharks chairman Damian Irvine giving Wayne Bennett coaching tips on Twitter during Saturday night’s game. “Newcastle need to start isolating him (George Burgess) in the defence line and testing Burgess laterally, fatigues quick & slow to get back it seems.”
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

GEN-GUS KHAN

Wednesday night’s Origin will be broadcast into 91 countries and territories including Fiji, France, Brazil, Canada, the US, Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco, China, Lebanon, Kuwait and Mongolia, where they
might even understand Gus.

A TOP PROP

Josh Mantellato

Italy might be the surprise packets  of the rugby league World Cup in England later this year and they’ll certainly have the best goalkicker.

Josh Mantellato, the winger who debuted for the Knights on Saturday night against Souths, bends them like Thurston.

He’s now kicked his past 24 straight.

Josh will join the Minichiello brothers, Anthony Laffranchi, Craig Gower, Aidan Guerra, Kade Snowden, James Tedesco and possibly Terry Campese in the Italian side.