Graham Lowe: We're losing a national treasure

When I look back on my coaching career, there are few regrets. There are not many players I look at and wish I'd had the chance to coach them, but Stacey Jones is an exception.

I often wish I had followed a tip from Auckland Rugby League man Graeme Rattray (a good judge of footy talent) when he put Jones' name to me while I was at Manly.

Stacey Jones is a national treasure and it's a crying shame he is finishing his career in Europe.

He has all the qualities I ever looked for in a player and in a person. The term "champion" is used far too loosely now but when discussing Stacey the word does not do him justice.

It's fitting that he is playing his last home game for the Warriors against the Knights and marking another great champion, Andrew Johns.

Johns is the current king of league in Australia but even he has not influenced the game over there as much as Jones has done in New Zealand.

Stacey is the Colin Meads of league in this country. I'm just proud to have known him and wish him all the best for the future.

Like many, I was saddened to hear of the passing of former New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange.

David was a regular at Carlaw Park and loved his league and was also a former NZRL board member.

I had many enjoyable chats with him about whether or not the Mangere East Hawks were as good as the mighty Otahuhu Leopards, and I'm proud to say that against one of the world's great debaters, I usually got my point across.

Unlike so many other stuck-up places, this is a wonderful country when you can say that a former Prime Minister is a mate, and I'm proud to say he was a mate of mine.

Give me a break. I read this week that some people reckon the Warriors are improving. Fair dinkum, these people have to be deluding themselves.

The Warriors are not running last but in my opinion they are the worst team in the NRL and I do not make that statement lightly.

They shouldn't be, because they don't have the worst players. But they are playing the worst type of football and are therefore the easiest to beat.

I feel sorry for the players, who must be shattered because every one of them gives his all. But in this hard, cruel world of professional football, that is not enough.

This is a team of players lacking confidence and who look like they do not enjoy their work. Who can blame them?

Watching the Dragons over the last couple of weeks, I couldn't help but make comparisons between Shaun Timmins, the Dragons' hard-working loose forward, and Warriors workaholic Monty Betham.

If Betham was playing for the Dragons he would be playing well and doing the same sort of job Timmins delivers each week. The Dragons' style would let him play to his potential.

Instead at the Warriors, first he doesn't have a set position, and second, he's in a team playing a style of game that doesn't suit them.

If Timmins was at the Warriors he would have no impact.

I've heard murmurs from some that the Warriors have improved because the losses are much closer. This view is crazy.

This is a club that should by now have developed into a juggernaut but it hasn't, and if drastic off-field changes are not made immediately, you can expect more of the same next year.

The top-of-the-table clash at Suncorp Stadium last Sunday showed the Dragons have come a long way under the coaching of Nathan Brown.

They were relentless against the Broncos, who looked a shadow of themselves.

Brown has blended skill, speed, size and attitude into what many consider the best team in the NRL.

They have looked great for their last few games but I have doubts about their ability to go on and win the premiership.

It was pretty obvious after just 15 minutes that the Broncos were below their best and I was sure they would struggle against a team full of class and confidence.

But as the game went on, Brisbane hung in there and even had the opportunity to win if they'd taken their chances.

I don't want to throw cold water on the great form of the Dragons, but I'm sure Brown would be well aware the Broncos were ordinary but still took a lot of beating.

Despite that, the Dragons do look like the team to beat.

The Eels have also come ahead in leaps and bounds and are playing a different style to the one-out bash and barge they were coming up with earlier in the year.

Confidence in both teams is sky-high and that alone makes them very hard to beat.

Eels coach Brian Smith seems to have loosened the reins on his charges and they are relishing the freedom and playing fantastic attacking football.

The Broncos are in a bit of trouble and Wayne Bennett has some work to do to snap his team out of it or they won't win another game.

Darren Lockyer is obviously playing with an injury, and goal-kicking is another worry.

The Cowboys face one of the biggest challenges to regain the brilliant form they were displaying mid-season, and if they do, they will make this year's race for the premiership one of the best in recent memory.

But I agree with a growing number of commentators who believe the competition needs to return to a top-five format.

A top-eight semifinal system gives three teams a chance they have not earned.