Jamie Soward, right. Pictures: DAVE TEASE
Steve Price
Steve Price and Matt Cooper
Dragons are put through their paces.
Trent Merrin
Daniel Vidot
Soward and Beale
Jamie Soward
Gerard Beale
Gerard Beale
RUGBY LEAGUE
Dragons five-eighth Jamie Soward revealed he lost more than three kilograms of body weight in the loss to Melbourne, but maintains he will be fit and firing for Friday night's showdown against Brisbane in Wollongong.
St George Illawarra coach Steve Price oversaw a brief training run at WIN Stadium yesterday, to freshen up a squad facing a shortened preparation for round two.
Price is prepared to give Chase Stanley every chance to overcome a knee injury, naming him in the starting line-up yesterday afternoon.
Soward was one of the worst affected by the heat during the 30-10 loss to the Storm in Melbourne, but dismissed thoughts of being flat to take on the Broncos.
"I personally lost about three and-a-half kilos, which is pretty hard for me to do, because I don't really lose that much weight," he said.
"Most of the others lost a little bit of weight as well, it was tough conditions, we're not complaining about the conditions, but it was tough.
"I love the shorter weeks because you don't have to train as long.
"Friday night is the best night to play of the week, [but] I'd play Thursday if I could."
Stanley is in major doubt to take his place at right centre, with Daniel Vidot on stand-by after avoiding suspension for his role in a fight against Newtown in the NSW Cup on Saturday.
While the injury is not as bad as first feared, both Chase and brother Kyle - out for the season after undergoing a knee reconstruction - have had a wretched run with injuries in the past.
However, it is likely Chase will miss one to two weeks.
Friday will be the first time new Dragons fullback Gerard Beale will face his old club.
"I guess it's good to get it out of the way early," he said.
"But I'm not looking at that, I just want to make sure I do my job on the field, if I do that I'll be happy."
Michael Weyman and Trent Merrin have been named to start after coming off the bench in Sunday's loss, with Leeson Ah Mau and Bronson Harrison moving into the run on team.
Beale said both the Dragons and Broncos were at similar stages of developing new combinations, after Brisbane signed Scott Prince and moved Corey Norman to fullback.
"Both clubs have a lot of great young talent," Beale said.
"I watched a bit of them [against Manly on Friday] and we'll be going through more of [the game] this week.
"It's going to be tough for both teams."
Beale admitted his combination with Soward and halfback Nathan Fien was still a work in progress.
"It was good in patches and we need to get that more consistently," he said.
"The more we play together, the more we know where we stand.
"It's just a second away from clicking."
