EXCLUSIVE: Jamie Soward backs Dragons premiership teammate Dean Young's surprise axing of Mick Ennis

Dragons premiership winner Jamie Soward claims Dean Young's move to sack assistant coach Michael Ennis on his first day in charge at the club should not arouse suspicion, despite a view that the interim coach was taking out a rival for the full-time position.

Young, a teammate of Soward's during the Saints' 2010 premiership win, made key changes less than 24 hours after taking over from the ousted Shane Flanagan, moving the ex coach's son Kyle to the bench for the Anzac Day clash with the Roosters and showing Ennis, who was looking after the team's attack, the door.

Ennis, who has been spoken about as a candidate to take over at the Dragons when a full-time appointment is made, said he was shocked by the decision.

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Ennis and Young played together at the club in 2005 before joining forces again to be part of the Dragons' coaching staff under Flanagan this year.

Ennis and Flanagan have a strong relationship having won a premiership together for the Sharks in 2016.

Assistant coaches being axed mid-season after a coaching change don't often make headlines in the NRL.

However, Soward shut down claims that Young had an ulterior motive for the decision, telling Wide World of Sports that it was not unconventional.

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"To be honest, I don't think it's that unusual. I was there when Anthony Griffin was let go by the Dragons and Ryan Carr took over," Soward, who was on the coaching staff at the time, explained.

"And he sort of changed the coaching structure a little bit in terms of who he had in the box and who was giving him the in-game advice.

"Dean's got that voice and that strength to be able to get the troops rallied, and if he feels like it's the best thing for him moving forward, I dare say that would be.

"What's best for the players is to have one clear voice at the moment. Everything needs a bit of a change and you've got to make hard decisions when you come into those roles, and he's made that."

NSW Cup coach Willie Talau and Tom Eisenhuth will assist Young with the NRL side this week, with the new coach to assess the situation after the Roosters match as the Dragons have the bye next round.

Along with Ennis' departure, playmaker Kyle Flanagan was moved to the bench in favour of 20-year-old Kade Reed.

Flanagan has been a mainstay as a starting half for the Saints since 2024. Up until this week, he had missed just four games through that time, due to suspension and injury.

When he was in charge, Shane Flanagan had reportedly expressed concern about Reed's size and hesitated to give him an NRL start, but Young is all in despite the 20-year-old's 76kg frame.

Soward disputed claims that Flanagan was axed or dropped, rather moved into another role because of Jacob Liddle's injury last weekend.

"Kyle wasn't axed," he added. "He was moved to the bench and we make so much of it. We go into a hissy fit every time a coach makes a change and stuff like that. If he was axed he wouldn't be playing this week.

"I think it's probably helping Kyle a little bit, you know, his dad's just lost his job and mentally in a space where the team's lost 0-7. It's two-fold. Dean's a very caring person.

"All I hear about from everyone is, you've got to pick players on form and all this kind of stuff. Well, they've done that and now we're trying to make it a story about Kyle being dropped.

"Kyle wasn't dropped. If he was dropped, he wouldn't be in the team.

"If Kyle's last name wasn't Flanagan, and you look at some of the efforts and the competitiveness he's shown ... I actually think he's competed hard.

"It's not just put all the blame on Kyle, then we'd be talking about him playing tennis. He's not playing tennis. It's a team game."

Soward said Flanagan was the best candidate for the bench role to cover the hooker and the halves with livewire Jacob Liddle unavailable due to injury.

"As a former Dragon looking at it, I think that they've got Jacob Liddle out. Kyle's got experience playing in that bench role," Soward said.

"When you look at the way that they've attacked, they probably need a little bit of a different spark and a different voice in and around the ruck."

Soward also pointed to Daniel Atkinson's stagnation as another reason the team's attack has not progressed in 2026.

Atkinson was recruited to the Dragons to play halfback this season but that experiment was abandoned due to a poor run of form from the former Sharks player. He was picked at five-eighth in Young's first team.

"When you make your way to the NRL, the planning systems are based by your natural skill, your adaption to what you see in front of you, and we haven't seen any of that from Daniel this year," Soward said.

"We've still got to see that.

"I think Kyle being the steadier was a good match for that to start.

"Obviously it hasn't worked out, so now they've gone to Kade Reed."

Reed's ascension to the halfback role poses more questions about the Dragons set up and why Flanagan opted to leave him out of the team all year, despite his strong pre-season performances that had Red V fans raving.

Coach Flanagan came under intense pressure last season for dropping Lachlan Illias and ignoring his form in the NSW Cup. Ilias fell out with Flanagan and left at the end of the season to join the Titans, where he is getting regular game time in first grade.

That situation appeared to be repeating itself this season but Young has thrust the young gun into the No.7 jersey and was adamant he was not risking Reed's long-term development by blooding him on Anzac Day, in one of the biggest games of the season.

However, Soward defended Shane Flanagan's decision to keep Reed out of the NRL, saying the coach was in a no-win situation.

"I think sometimes we get caught up in the coaches' messaging behind the scenes. You know, two weeks ago, what was he going to do?," Soward asked.

"He's probably coaching to save the season. What was he going to get out of putting a rookie in with that pressure?

"And then if it goes sour, how does that play out?

"Look at what the Bulldogs are doing with (highly rated young halfback) Mitch Woods. They've held him off for a couple of years.

"Look at what Ricky Stuart did with Ethan Sanders. Halves these days have got all this pressure on them to be Nathan Cleary.

"There's no one that comes in at 18 and dominates, it doesn't happen like that.

"Sometimes it takes a little bit longer to mature, but right now, you know, big occasion, short prep for Kade, I've got no doubt he's going to come in and play well on Saturday."