Forget Jarryd Hayne, forget Greg Inglis, forget Johnathan Thurston and forget Daly Cherry-Evans, right now there is no one hotter than Jamie Soward.
Soward has been tremendous all season and in the last month and a half his football has gone into the stratosphere. He is in career best form and this was epitomised by his performance against the Cowboys in Round 23.
Constantly forcing the defensive line to stop, prop and often watch on helplessly, Soward racked up two tries, two line breaks, and an intercept that led to Matthew Wright’s stint in the sin bin and another try from the ensuing set. He also threw a brilliant 20-metre pass for Josh Mansour’s try.
Soward kicked the opposition into submission in extremely testing conditions, with torrential rain and hurricane-standard wind. His defence has stiffened up immeasurably and he tackled with vigour, including a huge shot put on Antonio Winterstein that left the Cowboys winger reeling.
But what has really stood out for me during the aforementioned period is that Soward has proved he has progressed into being a true leader and game-breaking star.
The Panthers have won five of six matches without their halfback and captain Peter Wallace, with Jamie Soward being the driving force.
During this period they have also lost Elijiah Taylor, Bryce Cartwright, Brent Kite and replacement halfback Tyrone Peachey. But despite all these injuries they have not skipped a beat.
Soward has played with flair reminiscent of Hayne or Benji Marhsall, throwing one of the best passes of the season against the Broncos in Round 18 to set up Kevin Naiqama with an audacious flick. Conversely he has also exercised superb control and calmness over his team. His acclaimed running game has returned and is better than ever and he is kicking teams to death.
Will Smith’s seamless transition into first grade can very much be attributed to Soward’s stunning form at the moment, a man playing with the flair of the fresh prince himself.
On form right now Jamie Soward is arguably the most influential and the best player in the NRL.
Looking at Soward’s extraordinary seven weeks (Round 17 to 23) he has racked up two tries, five assists, 17 goals, four line breaks, seven tackle breaks and kicked 2864 metres, including a 40/20.
KB
Guest
What planet do you inhabit James? Rugby League is a game of O AND DEFENCE...get on the page please.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
James Mate you are very entitled to your opinion and there is no doubt Soward is going well, in the fair dinkum department, he is not in the same class as the top echelon of organisers in the NRL. JT, DCE and Cronk are all worth more than double Sowie if they went up for auction right now. Your comment:" right now there is no one hotter than Jamie Soward." is laughable and you should put it into contex. The Panthers have had a dream draw in 2014 and they won on Mon because of the wet ground and heavy wind and biased refs, but the Cowboys put no pressure on Soward. He comes up against Cooper Cronk on Mon so lets see how he goes and hopefully it will be dry. I will be shocked if he is allowed the same latitude with Cam Smith bearing down on him. BTW, I thought Soward's kicks last Mon were terrible compared to Thurston who kicked under the wind.
Jackson Henry
Roar Guru
Yeah, absolutely. A cynic might suggest that the whole "if he can't play for us, then he can't play for anyone" strategy might be at play here, but anyway. Great player though - dunno why it's so hard for so many halves to play direct? He straightens attack better than any of his young peers, that's for sure. As Andrew Johns would no doubt say "a real superstar of the future" (!)
James Preston
Roar Guru
I like that, a new big 3. I have huge wraps on Segeyaro and Moylan. Tbh I actually think Penrith is the most well constructed side in the comp
Dufeyz
Guest
As a penrith supporter, im happy i can say i believed in soward, straight after i saw this like 15 minute video of him at the dragons on youtube. Lets be real for a second, the dragons woes didnt come from their playmaker, their whole team was under-performing. Soward needed a change, much like Jenko. He had a bit of a slow start to the year, which is fair enough considering he didnt get on the park with Wallace during the trial matches. I can sit here and sulk about how Penrith isnt recognised, however i think its fair. Yes, we are in 3rd place, we are in front of the team who was tipped to win again, but the problem is, penrith has been crap for so long, its going to take another year at least, or even winning one or two semi finals, before people say "holy crap, they are actually decent'. Its been forever since we have won a finals match, we made the finals in 2010, however that was off the ability to catch kicks and score. It might have also been the year melbourne had points deducted - not sure. i got back onto the Panthers band-wagon in around May Last year, convinced parents to take me to the Melbourne game on Mothers Day. The crowd could of been 6000 at best, it was raining, it was miserable. But they pulled off the upset of the season, and was a fantastic game, beating a full-strength Melbourne side, fielding a team, worth less than half of the Salary Cap. I have sort of drifted off topic, but i think its a good segway into Monday nights clash against Melbourne. If Penrith beat Melbourne, will they keep writing us off? My only concern is segeyaro, oh i hope he is okay. If Penrith are going to win, it will probably be off the back of more Soward / Moylan / Segeyaro Magic. Those guys are Penrith's own 'big three'. end rant.
James Preston
Roar Guru
@Wooliemern Stats only paint half the picture, I just included them to give some tangible information as to how well he is travelling. You cant deny his organisational qualities, calming influence and the number of dangerous plays/repeat sets etc that he has come up with that also are not equated to statistical data. Case in point there were better second rowers then Sonny Bill last season statistically but he was by far the stand out in general influence
Clark
Guest
I guess you have to be funny when the team you support is as pathetic as Paramatta.
mattray
Guest
GI has played 1 good game in 5 weeks and the Inglis fan club can't stop orgasming
Johnk
Guest
Zing!
Ret
Guest
Yep. Unfortunately for Soward Slater is Federer, Hayne Nadal, and GI the Joker.
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
Honestly guys, it's fine. I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about. I'm in complete control. There's no need for hyperbole, OK?
Muzz
Guest
Ryan - Green light to go trash a hotel room.
The Barry
Guest
We're here for you buddy .
Muzz
Guest
This could potentially, escalate : )
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
Is this an intervention?
The Barry
Guest
Three times in two posts Ryan (incl the mispronunciation) You have to admit you have a problem before you can deal with it.
parrafan
Guest
If you're talking about individual talent ladder position doesn't mean a whole lot. I'll ask Hayne to stop sleeping with your wife Clark but I make no promises about not sleeping with your sister.
Clark
Guest
I reckon if you were to rank the buys of the season, quite a lot of the top ones would be from Penrith.
Clark
Guest
At the end of the day though, Penrith are 3rd and the Eels aren't even in the top at. That is the difference.
Frankus
Guest
Maybe not best player in the comp at the moment, Sam Burgess has that sewn up, but definitely the form half and hands down buy of the season.