Cronulla searching for fan who threw squash ball at Jamie Soward
by: Margie McDonald
From: The Australian
April 01, 2013 12:00AM
CRONULLA will try to find the culprit who threw a squash ball near Jamie Soward as he lined up for a kick near the Sharks Stadium sideline on Saturday night.
Interim chief executive Bruno Cullen said that kind of crowd misbehaviour would not be tolerated.
"I will ensure we scan CCTV footage, if available, and take appropriate action," Cullen said.
The NRL is calling for a report from its groundsmen on duty at the Sharks-Dragons derby, where the visitors enjoyed a 25-12 win - their first of the season.
"If we require further assistance from the Sharks to deal with the matter, we'll contact them," NRL football operations manager Nathan McGuirk said.
"Obviously any type of incident like that is of concern and one we don't take lightly."
Soward told Triple M radio's Sunday Offload program the ball interfered with his line of sight.
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"You get to the top of your run-up and you're focused. But if you see anything within your immediate eyesight, it puts you off a little bit," Soward said.
Referee Phil Haines also saw the ball and asked Soward to re-take the shot, which was right on the eastern grandstand touchline. It came after Jason Nightingale scored in the northeast corner in the 47th minute. He crossed again in the same spot 15 minutes later.
"I don't mind the boos, but when you get stuff thrown at you, that's not acceptable at games," Soward said. "It was nice to go back and rev them up again a couple of minutes later."
Soward scored more than half his side's points with an 85m try, after scooping up a loose ball, four goals from four attempts and a field goal.
The 2010 premiership-winning five-eighth comes off contract in the spring. And he is slightly miffed his club is linked in the media with halves from a host of other clubs, including his opponent on Saturday night, Todd Carney.
"The club is preparing for the future," he said, adding he had a great relationship with CEO Peter Doust and high-performance director Craig Young, who oversee the contracts.
"You only have to read the papers that the club is looking at every other five-eighth in the comp. But that's good for me. That gives me a challenge to keep proving I'm a stayer," Soward said.
"I'd love to finish my career at the Dragons."
