DRAGONS 19 KNIGHTS 16
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Can you imagine a St George Illawarra side without that headgear-wearing feisty five-eighth? Dragons fans will shudder at the thought this morning.
But the man himself is under no illusions it very well might happen even after Jamie Soward kicked his old mentor Wayne Bennett's Newcastle Knights right back up the F3.
"I'd love to stay here, but I understand the club's positioning," an off-contract Jamie Soward said after the Dragons outgunned Newcastle 19-16 at WIN Jubilee Oval yesterday.
"They've got Kyle Stanley to come back next year and Josh Drinkwater is an up-and-coming half.
"I'm under no illusions I'm off contract and I need to have a big year. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later and it would be nice to have my future sorted."
Maybe his manager Sam Ayoub can pick up the phone pronto and speak to Dragons boss Peter Doust after Soward almost single-handedly steered the Dragons to back-to-back wins.
From an inch-perfect kicking game to the remarkable buzzer-beating field goal on the stroke of half-time - on face value gifting the hosts a meaningless 9-0 lead at the time but proving the breathing space the Dragons desperately craved in the second half - Soward was near unstoppable.
The former Origin pivot made Jason Nightingale's second-half four-pointer, firing a crisp cutout pass for the Kiwi winger to stroll over untouched.
He even moonlighted at fullback in the second half when Gerard Beale limped off with a knee injury, the first time he's played there since 2006 with the Roosters.
"I had to make less tackles," Soward quipped of the change.
"I'll do whatever it takes. I'll play nine, front row ... I'll do whatever it takes to help the team out."
Soward's transformation from an indifferent opening three weeks of the season almost mirrors the fortunes of the Red V as a whole.
Resurrecting the stonewall defence they forged their reputation on during Bennett's tenure, the Dragons attack again clicked after smoking the Sharks last weekend.
But Price was reluctant to lavish praise only on his previously maligned halves, Soward and Nathan Fien, after a match in which highly-touted back-up Josh Drinkwater was handed a debut off the bench.
"I wouldn't say we're on fire, but it's very pleasing," Price said. "We're heading in the right direction. In saying that, the first three weeks we were doing a lot of positive stuff and it's only starting to come out now."
Despite a gritty Knights fightback through second-half tries to returning Red V hero Darius Boyd, Timana Tahu and an 80th minute consolation to Akuila Uate, they never really threatened to spoil the Dragons' Kogarah homecoming.
Bennett, who has failed to beat St George Illawarra successor Steve Price in three attempts, couldn't fault the effort of his side after Danny Buderus was withdrawn.
"They [the Dragons] were very committed," Bennett said. "You can see that by the quality of their play, their ball control and their intensity they play with. It was outstanding.
"We were beaten by a really good team there [yesterday] and we were really good ourselves. It just happens. That's footy. What you lose today you pick up next week. If we play like that every week we'll win more than we lose."
Which is exactly what the Dragons will keep doing if Soward maintains the rage - with more than a helping hand from his team-mates.
"It's easy to stand here and take all the raps for putting them [kicks] in the corner, but if the boys don't chase like they did [yesterday] I'm not getting any of the credit."
