Soward ready for physical Manly clash

Jamie Soward is expecting a physical affair when St George meet premiers Manly at Kogarah this weekend.

The Dragons go into the match on Saturday full of confidence after a thumping 36-12 victory over pre-tournament favourites Wests Tigers.

Manly meanwhile were edged out by Cronulla 17-14 in a tense encounter at Toyota Stadium on Monday.

Halfback Soward however is not expecting anything other than a tough clash with the Sea Eagles.

“It will be tough again this week again against the premiers and we know what they would be going through at the moment after losing to the Sharks on Monday night,” said 27-year-old Soward.

“Come the latter stages of training this week we’ll be amping things up but today was more a stop-start learning type of session before heading into Friday’s session.”

Soward is also confident that he can retain his spot in the NSW Blues Origin squad.

“I would love to be there again as I think I’ve earned my stripes and played pretty well I think last year,” said Soward.

“Ricky [Stuart] is aware of what I can do in that type of arena and the type of guy I am so hopefully he picks me when the time comes around.

“At the moment though its all about the Red V and putting in another good performance this weekend against Manly.”