Jamie Soward joins London Broncos

St George-Illawarra have granted stand-off Jamie Soward an early release from his contract to join London Broncos.

Soward, 28, has barely played for the Dragons since putting pen to paper on a four-year deal to join NRL rivals Penrith Panthers for 2014.

He said: “I’m very excited and looking forward to getting over there and settling in. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Tony [Head coach Tony Rea] and what he’s doing there.

“I’ve always kept an eye on Super League and I’m always looking at results and past NRL players that have gone over there. The cold weather doesn’t bother me too much so when the opportunity came up the thought of getting over there and preparing and hopefully getting to play in both Super League and Challenge Cup was too good to miss.

“I’m in good shape at the moment coming off a pretty tough off-season so I’m looking forward to getting there.”

Soward led the Dragons to the NRL premiership in 2010, and played State of Origin for New South Wales in 2011.

He is likely to fill the void left at Twickenham Stoop by Craig Gower, who recently left the club to join Newcastle Knights.

Rea said: “We’re delighted with the club’s investment in Jamie. It is an important time in our season and it just shows great intent for the club as a whole.”

St George chief executive Peter Doust said: “It is fair to say that mid-season signings and transfers are not ideal for clubs, players or fans but that is the system in which we work.

“This is not how the club or Jamie envisaged things would end and efforts were made to avoid this circumstance but both parties agree that this is the best outcome.”