2026

[RedV01]

Soward never was a gun tackler. He used to hide in defence. He would run backwards in defence while players either side of him came in to make the tackle. He would even intentionally make it look like he took the wrong option (go for the runner) so that he didn't have to tackle someone and it didn't count as a missed tackle. He would also go to marker any chance he got. He would drop back in defence and then be in a position to clean up a short kick and then get praised for it by the commentators. He also didn't like to get tackled. He would pass or kick the ball far enough away from the defensive line, so the defenders could touch him after he passed the ball. When Bennett was coaching us and we were winning, I would ask Saints fans, if they liked Soward. They would all say yes. Then I would ask them if they thought Soward was scared, scared to tackle and scared to get tackled and they would all say no. Then I would explain to them what I just wrote above. Then however long later, say a few months to a year and I would see them again and almost all of them would say, He was scared. They could only see it when someone had pointed it out to them. When he was at Easts, I thought he was a future superstar, after seeing him kill it in a lower grade grand final. When they bought Brett Finch and weren't giving Soward a run, I was asking myself why?

I am posting in the 2 paragraphs below that was from a Daily Telegraph article. I didn't post the whole article. I have added the inverted commas myself as to highlight what I was saying and could see for myself and just said above. I don't know how to highlight passages or I would have done that

Put simply, he wasn't willing to put his body on the line. He was a classy touch footy player who wanted to play NRL.
But physically and mentally, he was gun-shy. In attack and defence, he would hold back. He didn't have the application and, at times, "I think he was scared of the physicality of our game."

Rugby league in 2009 has never been more suited to a player like Jamie Soward. You can't touch the kickers. There's less wrestling in the ruck area and it's virtually a physical game of touch football.
"He doesn't play close to the line, he prefers to dish the football away before meeting the defensive line."

Anyway, I don't wish to discuss Soward any longer. I discussed Soward long enough many years ago and had many disagreements regarding Soward. I will not discuss Soward anymore, no matter how much anyone wants to bait me. lol

Ok sir. Fair enough. Disagree about Mr. Soward, his tackling and overall game during those years but that's ok.

I'm mostly interested right now in the coaching staff helping Mr. King-Togia iron out the main weaknesses in his game. I think a good coach could do it and we have a good coach but for other reasons I suspect he doesn't want Mr. King-Togia to do well.

 

[RedV01]

Despite the concerns regarding our halves combination for 2026, I am expecting Daniel Atkinson to produce the best form of his career. By all reports he is injury free and has been training well. As this is his first real opportunity to secure a starting position in the halves, he must be highly motivated. If our forwards can hold their own against quality opposition, Daniel Atkinson may prove to be one of the buys of the season.

I'm not worried about Mr. Atkinson's game. I think he's going to do well. But he is only a member of the band and I have extreme doubts about the motivation of the conductor of the band.

 

[Kim]

Despite the concerns regarding our halves combination for 2026, I am expecting Daniel Atkinson to produce the best form of his career. By all reports he is injury free and has been training well. As this is his first real opportunity to secure a starting position in the halves, he must be highly motivated. If our forwards can hold their own against quality opposition, Daniel Atkinson may prove to be one of the buys of the season.

I expect so too, but at the same time if he doesn't do the job there is increasing pressure on our halves now, from emerging lower graders and perhaps even if we buy someone in from outside, and that is all good too. Lots of keen competition from plenty of young guys with talent. Haven't had that for a while.

 

[George Sancti]

I'm not worried about Mr. Atkinson's game. I think he's going to do well. But he is only a member of the band and I have extreme doubts about the motivation of the conductor of the band.

I know I’m deliberately looking for positives, but I’m confident the conductor will have the whole band playing to the same song sheet when it counts.

 

[George Sancti]

I expect so too, but at the same time if he doesn't do the job there is increasing pressure on our halves now, from emerging lower graders and perhaps even if we buy someone in from outside, and that is all good too. Lots of keen competition from plenty of young guys with talent. Haven't had that for a while.

I agree Kim. I am also looking forward to see how our young halves progress in the lower grades.

 

[Ryan]

I'm not worried about Mr. Atkinson's game. I think he's going to do well. But he is only a member of the band and I have extreme doubts about the motivation of the conductor of the band.

There are a lot of doubts. A lot of people expressing doubts. Including people who really matter. I was furious when word first came out he was going with KF at 5/8 and Atkinson at 1/2 rather than LKT at 5/8 but lets give it the first few rounds and see where we are after that.

 

[Frank Facer]

Despite the concerns regarding our halves combination for 2026, I am expecting Daniel Atkinson to produce the best form of his career. By all reports he is injury free and has been training well. As this is his first real opportunity to secure a starting position in the halves, he must be highly motivated. If our forwards can hold their own against quality opposition, Daniel Atkinson may prove to be one of the buys of the season.

I haven't seen much of Atkinson. It was out of Trindall and Atkinson as to which one Cronulla wanted to keep long term and they chose Trindall. I was happy they chose Trindall and was hoping we could sign Atkinson, which we obviously did so. I would have been disappointed if we missed out on Atkinson. As I previously said, what other halves who have changed clubs could we have signed? Atkinson, would be the one I would have wanted out of all the ones who changed clubs.

Last off season we signed Illias. I didn't hold high hopes for him after seeing him at Souths. He looked to just pass and kick and that is all I saw from him at Saints. Some were saying that he had to play second fiddle to Walker and Mitchell at Souths and was either overshadowed or in a sense inhibited, but again he didn't do anything when playing for us and given the halfback spot. Then he and Anasta were talking in the media and saying that he wasn't getting a fair go, because Flanno was favoring his son. I have had other people I know parrot the same things to me, so it did hurt us off the field. In hindsight the one half-5/8 I would have liked us to sign that was apparently another option when we signed Illias is Adam Doueihi. There was talk we could have signed him. When I saw him playing halfback for Souths many years ago, I thought he was better than Adam Reynolds. He didn't get much game time at halfback after that. Wests bought him on rather big money to play in the halves, but he was cruelled with injuries and had not played much halfback at Wests. You could say he was injury prone and I wasn't 100% that we should have signed him when we sign Illias. Last year Doueihi got some game time at halfback and was playing extremely well there. It was then I thought, we should have signed him to play halfback for us instead of Illias. Last year, before Doueihi was moved to halfback and got injured after a couple of games there, he played some games at lock. We were apparently trying to sign him to play lock for us. I don't think he is a lock, but I think he is a halfback and would have liked us to have signed him last season to play halfback for us this season. He knocked us back. Maybe he didn't want to play lock or maybe he didn't want to relocate to Wollongong.

 

[jodragon40]

Jamie Soward, who I mentioned, says hello.

He doesn't. I mentioned at almost every other club or every other club, the halfback does most of the long kicking.

I've seen this bizarre comment before as well. You think he is speedier than Munster or Galvin or Ethan Strange or Kodi Nikorima or Jerome Luai? I reckon he's about the same or speedier.

The code about who can be criticised and who can't strikes again. I can assure you the 28 year-old coaches son is hardly JDB when it comes to tackling, is slower than LKT and has a worse long kicking game. Yet, to point that out = hating the coaches son while criticism of LKT that makes little sense to me is well and good.

Sloan has been a massive let-down. And Dufty before him.

To be honest Soward was originally considered the weak link in the defensive line. Remember that infamous speed hump comment after he tried to tackle Inglis 1 on 1 and lost in 2009.

Anyway he did become a better tackler but that was as a direct result of St Benny influence and training regime. Bennett was and still is a defensively minded coach.

Soward undertook extensive extra tackling training and St Benny placed him in his defensive structures with an enforcer and strong tackling partners mainly Beau Scott and Neville Costigan.

Don't forget Soward was actually dropped from 1sts in 2008 because in part his inability to tackle well and his defensive frailties. St Benny came along and 2 years later Soward is a club legend wearing a premiership winning ring.

The point is we don't have a genuine defensive enforcer who can tackle efficiently and assist young LKT to develop that particular skillset. LKT can and will get better after all he is only 21 this year.

His stats from last season indicates to me he needs help with his defensive decision making and tackling technique.

He played 17 games, avg 20 tackles a game, avg 3 missed, so he was targeted. You also need to add to that stat just where and when those 3 tackles per game were missed and did that lead to points by the opposition.

Just my views

 

[Dragons Chris]

I haven't seen much of Atkinson. It was out of Trindall and Atkinson as to which one Cronulla wanted to keep long term and they chose Trindall. I was happy they chose Trindall and was hoping we could sign Atkinson, which we obviously did so. I would have been disappointed if we missed out on Atkinson. As I previously said, what other halves who have changed clubs could we have signed? Atkinson, would be the one I would have wanted out of all the ones who changed clubs.

Last off season we signed Illias. I didn't hold high hopes for him after seeing him at Souths. He looked to just pass and kick and that is all I saw from him at Saints. Some were saying that he had to play second fiddle to Walker and Mitchell at Souths and was either overshadowed or in a sense inhibited, but again he didn't do anything when playing for us and given the halfback spot. Then he and Anasta were talking in the media and saying that he wasn't getting a fair go, because Flanno was favoring his son. I have had other people I know parrot the same things to me, so it did hurt us off the field. In hindsight the one half-5/8 I would have liked us to sign that was apparently another option when we signed Illias is Adam Doueihi. There was talk we could have signed him. When I saw him playing halfback for Souths many years ago, I thought he was better than Adam Reynolds. He didn't get much game time at halfback after that. Wests bought him on rather big money to play in the halves, but he was cruelled with injuries and had not played much halfback at Wests. You could say he was injury prone and I wasn't 100% that we should have signed him when we sign Illias. Last year Doueihi got some game time at halfback and was playing extremely well there. It was then I thought, we should have signed him to play halfback for us instead of Illias. Last year, before Doueihi was moved to halfback and got injured after a couple of games there, he played some games at lock. We were apparently trying to sign him to play lock for us. I don't think he is a lock, but I think he is a halfback and would have liked us to have signed him last season to play halfback for us this season. He knocked us back. Maybe he didn't want to play lock or maybe he didn't want to relocate to Wollongong.

Doueihi looks like a 5/8 to me. A good one. But we already have a few 5/8s. Need a halfback. Hopefully Atkinson does well but he also seems like a 5/8 to me.

 

[jodragon40]

The big issue here is for 2026 season is our ability to have an engine room moving forward.

It wouldn't matter if our hb combination was Cleary/ Munster. If your bloody pack is not making the required forward momentum in the middle of the park your halves cannot obtain the necessary field position to execute your teams attacking structures.

This was our issue last season and many more before that. You also need your halves to take on the opposition defensive line instead of being simply linking to your backline.

Last season those stats were damning, and in fact LKT had better stats in this area than Flanagan. In his 17 games LKT took on the line on 50 occasions so avg 3 a game which is not good. Yet Flanagan 24 games took on the line 47 times less than 2 a game.

Now there are other reasons this happens one of course being your engine room being static or going backwards but unless we can fix that first problem we simply won't be able to fix the next problem which is giving time and room for our halves to be creative and execute plays.

Just my views

 

[Dragons Chris]

The big issue here is for 2026 season is our ability to have an engine room moving forward.

It wouldn't matter if our hb combination was Cleary/ Munster. If your bloody pack is not making the required forward momentum in the middle of the park your halves cannot obtain the necessary field position to execute your teams attacking structures.

This was our issue last season and many more before that. You also need your halves to take on the opposition defensive line instead of being simply linking to your backline.

Last season those stats were damning, and in fact LKT had better stats in this area than Flanagan. In his 17 games LKT took on the line on 50 occasions so avg 3 a game which is not good. Yet Flanagan 24 games took on the line 47 times less than 2 a game.

Now there are other reasons this happens one of course being your engine room being static or going backwards but unless we can fix that first problem we simply won't be able to fix the next problem which is giving time and room for our halves to be creative and execute plays.

Just my views

It's also the quality of Flanagan taking on the line. He catches, tucks the ball under his arm and runs. One can see he is going to run himself a week before he does it. And he never breaks a tackle. I'm not sure he can pass while running. Every time he stops running, props and passes. He doesn't run to the line and pass.

 

[jodragon40]

W

Doueihi looks like a 5/8 to me. A good one. But we already have a few 5/8s. Need a halfback. Hopefully Atkinson does well but he also seems like a 5/8 to me.

Well in the last 3 seasons with the Sharks Atkinson has only played 36 times. Last season I can't recall him actually starting a game.

The last time I saw a 7 on his back was playing for the Sharks feeder club Newtown. I hope his has improved.

 

[jodragon40]

It's also the quality of Flanagan taking on the line. He catches, tucks the ball under his arm and runs. One can see he is going to run himself a week before he does it. And he never breaks a tackle. I'm not sure he can pass while running. Every time he stops running, props and passes. He doesn't run to the line and pass.

I hope he has improved. In saying that there is an old coaches saying going back to my day when I was learning my trade.

" No halfback no matter how good can play his best if the forward pack aren't doing their job ". Nothing has changed in my eyes.

 

[Dragons Chris]

I hope he has improved. In saying that there is an old coaches saying going back to my day when I was learning my trade.

" No halfback no matter how good can play his best if the forward pack aren't doing their job ". Nothing has changed in my eyes.

He is 28 this year. He isn't improving.

 

[redv4life]

He is 28 this year. He isn't improving.

don’t see how he makes our best 17 but can guarantee he will be there.

 

[jodragon40]

He is 28 this year. He isn't improving.

I meant behind a better engine room as for his skillset I would imagine he has reached his peak.

 

[Eric]

The big issue here is for 2026 season is our ability to have an engine room moving forward.

It wouldn't matter if our hb combination was Cleary/ Munster. If your bloody pack is not making the required forward momentum in the middle of the park your halves cannot obtain the necessary field position to execute your teams attacking structures.

This was our issue last season and many more before that. You also need your halves to take on the opposition defensive line instead of being simply linking to your backline.

Last season those stats were damning, and in fact LKT had better stats in this area than Flanagan. In his 17 games LKT took on the line on 50 occasions so avg 3 a game which is not good. Yet Flanagan 24 games took on the line 47 times less than 2 a game.

Now there are other reasons this happens one of course being your engine room being static or going backwards but unless we can fix that first problem we simply won't be able to fix the next problem which is giving time and room for our halves to be creative and execute plays.

Just my views

I wonder if there's a chance we can get KK a year early when the cooling off period is over. A pack of KK, Couchman x2, LPT, Su'A, Stewart isn't just a pack which can hold its own, but is a pack I would expect to dominate a lot of games.

 

[redv4life]

I wonder if there's a chance we can get KK a year early when the cooling off period is over. A pack of KK, Couchman x2, LPT, Su'A, Stewart isn't just a pack which can hold its own, but is a pack I would expect to dominate a lot of games.

KK for Guler swap?

 

[Morgan]

KK for Guler swap?

We could throw Blocka as well.

 

[Dragons4me]

I wonder if there's a chance we can get KK a year early when the cooling off period is over. A pack of KK, Couchman x2, LPT, Su'A, Stewart isn't just a pack which can hold its own, but is a pack I would expect to dominate a lot of games.

Yeah, it really pisses me off that we released Finau Latu to the bullcheats early (whilst recovering from injury), and there's already been print media speculation that he could even start in '26, whilst we have to wait till '27 for KK. Do we ever win one of these situations??