St George Illawarra has defended itself in the face of criticism from 2010 premiership legend Jamie Soward.
Soward says he has “never felt wanted” at the Dragons despite leading the joint venture to its only NRL premiership 15 years ago, and then returning in recent years to coach the NRLW team.
“For me personally, I’ve never felt comfortable, like I was part of the Dragons club, and I stand by that,” he told WWOS.
“When you are a player and you look at other clubs, you see the way (past players) are presented to the crowd… you go and play Newcastle on Old Boys day and it’s the bloody hardest game of the year. They’ve had a function, they have been on the drink all day, they are actually treated like they’re part of the club.
“I left the club in 2013, I’d played State of Origin (when I was) there, won two minor premierships, and never felt welcomed back.
“I went back as a coach, and even as a coach I probably felt a little uncomfortable with where I sat in the ranks of what that great club has done.
“I’m not going to say who, but there were a number of other players who text me after seeing those comments who said they felt the same.
“It’s really sad because it is such a proud, historic club, but… you never hear about the 2010 team, do you?”
Soward’s premiership teammate Matt Cooper last year lifted the lid on his own falling out with the club he is a bona fide legend of.
Cooper snubbed the 10-year premiership anniversary, which had to be delayed due to the COVID pandemic in 2020. He has since clarified that he is now on good terms with the Dragons.
Players from the 2010 premiership team will come together in a few weeks’ time to mark the 15-year anniversary, but Soward was angry he wasn’t formally invited to the event by the club.
The Dragons on Wednesday issued a statement to Wide World of Sports explaining the issue.
“The Dragons would like to emphatically state that Jamie Soward is an important part of the Dragons and is always welcome at the club,” it said.
“While Jamie’s email was originally not included on the 2010 reunion invitation due to a clerical issue, that was quickly rectified.
“Our CEO Tim Watsford reached out to Jamie personally on Monday in the wake of his recent comments on The Bye Round podcast to introduce himself and to assure Jamie he is always welcome at the Dragons.
“Jamie is a 2010 premiership winner with the Dragons and has held a number of key roles at the club since his retirement from playing and we look forward to welcoming him to the 2010 reunion soon.”
Soward says he will most likely attend the 15-year reunion, although he has commentary commitments with 2GB that same night.
Nonetheless, he feels the success of the 2010 team is not recognised as it would be at other NRL clubs.
“The Sharks, you hear about the Sharks and their amazing feat (in 2016), the Cowboys had their 30-year team and they have dinners, they honour people. You never hear about the Dragons,” he told WWOS.
“Just because I feel like that doesn’t mean others have to, but I know I’m not the only one.
“I don’t need box seats and stuff like that. The 2010 premiership was 15 years ago, we have celebrated it once. We had to wait for COVID to finish… now there is player chat about details of a reunion. But it’s not from the club, it’s from the players.
“The Roosters treat their players exceptionally well – their 2013 team in 2023 had a three-day weekend (celebration). That’s the difference.
“Unfortunately we’re not recognised like that.”
DRAGONS 2010 PREMIERSHIP TEAM
1. Darius Boyd 2. Brett Morris 3. Mark Gasnier 4. Matt Cooper 5. Jason Nightingale 6. Jamie Soward 7. Ben Hornby (c) 8. Neville Costigan 9. Dean Young 10. Michael Weyman 11. Beau Scott 12. Ben Creagh 13. Jeremy Smith 14. Nathan Fien 15. Trent Merrin 16. Matt Prior 17. Jarrod Saffy
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