St George Illawarra Dragons in hunt for a playmaker to replace retiring Ben Hornby
James Phelps
The Sunday Telegraph
September 02, THE DRAGONS have begun preparing for life after Ben Hornby with the club signing an unknown Manly rookie as a likely replacement for the retiring legend.
Linked to Chad Townsend, Sam Williams and Jacob Miller in recent weeks, St George-Illawarra's search for a halfback took an unexpected turn last week when the club snared Manly Toyota Cup No.7 Josh Drinkwater.
Having missed out on Cooper Cronk and Daly Cherry-Evans earlier this year, the Dragons will enter next season without an established playmaker to partner Jamie Soward, with Hornby to play his final match today against Parramatta.
Hornby's long-term replacement will not arrive until 2014 with the likes of Johnathan Thurston, Todd Carney, Josh Reynolds, Trent Hodkinson, Gareth Widdop and Mitchell Pearce off contract at the end of next year.
Facing a playmaking void, the Dragons have bolstered their stocks with Drinkwater, the Toyota Cup captain, signing a two-year deal.
The 182cm Central Coast product will have an opportunity to push Kyle Stanley for a spot in the halves alongside Soward.
Before signing Drinkwater, the Dragons made an unsuccessful play for Cronulla back-up No.7 Chad Townsend, who was denied a release from the final year of his deal.
"From the outset there hasn't been a hell of a lot of halves on the open market," Price said recently.
"We've got Stanley, Jamie Soward and Nathan Fien so we've got some good halves, but the important thing is that we get Kyle's body right. We know the sky is the limit for him.
"His best position is in the halves and that opportunity will arise in the off-season. We'll sit back now and review our playing roster and then we'll make a decision on which way we'll go."
Price will lose almost 500 games of experience with both Hornby and Dean Young to play their final matches today. He will also lose Beau Scott, with the Origin forward on his way to Newcastle.
The club's recruitment has been modest with Gerard Beale headlining a list that also includes Cronulla rookie Tyson Frizell.
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