Zac Lomax

[Veteran Dragon]

We have a player in career best form, seemingly responding to his coach and enjoying his footy, leaving for less to a club that's most probably going to sack their coach, for less money. All because he doesn't want to play on the wing? Freakin bizarre............

You have done an excellent job of summing up this inconceivable story.

 

[JubileeJeffro]

With the bye, you’re ranked 5th, so Bud he’s doing his job.

He was a panic buy in the days when Luai still wanted to be a panther. But I’m not giving up him yet. He’s only a kid.

I’m still surprised the panthers didn’t save up for him.

Back on Zac, he has to be picked for Origin. I wonder if Madge will pick him n the centres?

If he does, he would be pretty pleased and we would all expect an unbelievable game from him. His chance to prove himself in his favoured position.

Summon all of his anger and self appreciation, it could be one of the greatest origin performances of the modern day.

Wouldn’t you pick;
Bradman Best
Stephen Crichton
Kotoni Staggs
Latrell Mitchell
Tom Turbo

all before Lomax in centres.

To’o and Lomax would be good wingers

 

[RedVee]

Wouldn’t you pick;
Bradman Best
Stephen Crichton
Kotoni Staggs
Latrell Mitchell
Tom Turbo

all before Lomax in centres.

To’o and Lomax would be good wingers

Fox?

 

[Phantom V]

Ag

Lomax has signed with Parra so, no way he's staying.

He's playing great footy however, it doesn't sit well that he didn't want to play in a position that is best for the team.

Remember Nighty played in the front row. Anyway, congrats Zax on his 100th in the Red V.

Agree mate, he won’t be going back on his deal with Parra and I think Flanno putting him on the wing was also a test to see how he’d react to being out of his comfort zone.
Although Zac is in career best form, I think credit has to go to the players around him as well as a number of them have improved under our new coach.

 

[cussy]

Trent Barrett planted the seed- tried to get him to bulldogs when he was there. Got him to parra. Maybe he is aiming for Arthur’s job?

 

[Phantom V]

The

Wouldn’t you pick;
Bradman Best
Stephen Crichton
Kotoni Staggs
Latrell Mitchell
Tom Turbo

all before Lomax in centres.

To’o and Lomax would be good wingers

Out of that list, there’s only 2 players I’d pick ahead of him at this stage,
Turbo
Crichton
Best and Staggs - Solid players that would do the job but not the same skill set as Lomax.
Mitchell - A brave coach to leave him out, potentially the best player in the game but how long can you live on reputation alone? If they’re serious about current form Mitchell shouldn’t even be in the conversation. Wingers would probably be To’o and Ado Carr but who knows.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Wouldn’t you pick;
Bradman Best
Stephen Crichton
Kotoni Staggs
Latrell Mitchell
Tom Turbo

all before Lomax in centres.

To’o and Lomax would be good wingers

I would choose Zac in the centres because Zacs levels of motivation would easily account for and exceed the wonderful attributes of the players you listed.

He didn’t slot that 2 point fg from the wing.

Lets also recognise his freak passing game under pressure, he can kick, he can jump and he can draw in their line and throw the reverse flick or other shotgun pass out wide.

Hes got a point to prove and I’m all for giving him his opportunity early while he’s the lion of the den.

If he fluffs it, it will add to the lustre that is Flanno.

If he makes good, fine but as pointed out, the eels are some distance from you guys despite an arguably better roster, plus he has the silly and absurd boxing interest.

It’s a win/win scenario.

Plus he’s one of he form players in the game at the moment. He could manage anywhere in the backs and fb with aplomb.

Sometimes you have to trust players out of position if they are good enough and I think he’s at that level at the moment

Im leaving Latrell out of my squad because he’s too Ill disciplined and risky. Plus he simply hasn’t earned it.

I think Ivan should be coaching NSW. He’s earned it many times over. I don’t even like him, but merit is merit.

 

[Wolfgang90]

He's a gun & has been playing brilliantly since the 2nd half of 2023 when hook got the hook & flanno was confirmed as head coach. Deserves a shot at Origin if he can maintain this form.

 

[BLM01]

The

Out of that list, there’s only 2 players I’d pick ahead of him at this stage,
Turbo
Crichton
Best and Staggs - Solid players that would do the job but not the same skill set as Lomax.
Mitchell - A brave coach to leave him out, potentially the best player in the game but how long can you live on reputation alone? If they’re serious about current form Mitchell shouldn’t even be in the conversation. Wingers would probably be To’o and Ado Carr but who knows.

Mitchell won’t be in SOO 1

 

[Dragon David]

He's a gun & has been playing brilliantly since the 2nd half of 2023 when hook got the hook & flanno was confirmed as head coach. Deserves a shot at Origin if he can maintain this form.

Lomax is currently leading in the Dally M Award.

DALLY M LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 7

19 points
Zac Lomax (Dragons)
18 points
Tom Trbojevic (Sea Eagles)
Viliame Kikau (Bulldogs)
17 points

Dylan Edwards (Panthers)
Kalyn Ponga (Knights)
16 points
Isaiya Katoa (Dolphins)
Nicho Hynes (Sharks)
15 points

Daly Cherry-Evans (Sea Eagles)
14 points
Pat Carrigan (Broncos)
13 points
Ben Hunt (Dragons)
12 points
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Dolphins)
Reece Walsh (Broncos)
Scott Drinkwater (Cowboys)

Kikau is looming close behind with Turbo. After the weekend win by the Bulldogs against the Knights (who I must admit played shithouse and Ponga played injured and had to be replaced), I think that they will be more competitive as the year progresses and could be in the top 8 in a few weeks time.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Lomax is currently leading in the Dally M Award.

DALLY M LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 7

19 points
Zac Lomax (Dragons)
18 points
Tom Trbojevic (Sea Eagles)
Viliame Kikau (Bulldogs)
17 points

Dylan Edwards (Panthers)
Kalyn Ponga (Knights)
16 points
Isaiya Katoa (Dolphins)
Nicho Hynes (Sharks)
15 points

Daly Cherry-Evans (Sea Eagles)
14 points
Pat Carrigan (Broncos)
13 points
Ben Hunt (Dragons)
12 points
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Dolphins)
Reece Walsh (Broncos)
Scott Drinkwater (Cowboys)

Kikau is looming close behind with Turbo. After the weekend win by the Bulldogs against the Knights (who I must admit played shithouse and Ponga played injured and had to be replaced), I think that they will be more competitive as the year progresses and could be in the top 8 in a few weeks time.

Killer post DD.

All of the strife seems to have a positive effect of his footy. Perhaps the club should secretly leak stuff, keep the controversy coming, drip it out, deny everything…to keep him at the top of our beloved herd of cattle.

In the words of that great rugby league prophet he is so obviously

“ comfortable being uncomfortable”

As soon as he relaxes, he’ll go back to his sobbing and sadly rediscover his inner derp.

 

[redandwhite4evr]

Probably a forlorn hope but- dammit- he's too good to let go without a fight.

Lomax was wined and dined by Brad Arthur and the thought occurred to me he might have a clause in his Parra contract that allows a get out if Arthur isn't the coach.
Parra with Arthur in the saddle are definitely on the slide- can't blame it all on Moses not being there- and the Darwin debacle might be the beginning of the end for Brad after 12 unproductive years at the helm.

If boxing is the only reason he went to the Eels for less, then we're probably no better off and he'll just go somewhere else. On the other hand, he looks genuinely happy with his team mates at the Dragons so he may reconsider particularly if some sort of compromise on the boxing can be reached in a new contract eg not the for the next two years.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Probably a forlorn hope but- dammit- he's too good to let go without a fight.

Lomax was wined and dined by Brad Arthur and the thought occurred to me he might have a clause in his Parra contract that allows a get out if Arthur isn't the coach.
Parra with Arthur in the saddle are definitely on the slide- can't blame it all on Moses not being there- and the Darwin debacle might be the beginning of the end for Brad after 12 unproductive years at the helm.

If boxing is the only reason he went to the Eels for less, then we're probably no better off and he'll just go somewhere else. On the other hand, he looks genuinely happy with his team mates at the Dragons so he may reconsider particularly if some sort of compromise on the boxing can be reached in a new contract eg not the for the next two years.

Yeah, it made sense to me that Brad (under pressure) might try to sneak such a clause in, but if centres and boxing came first, he could achieve this without Brad.

Alas the issue is not his team-mates, but it’s obviously Flanno.

You can pick up in the press conferences, Flanno pays due recognition for his game but there’s not much praise for the man because I think Flanno feels let down.

That’s why Flanno, shafted Lomax for his extra years. He would have had to approve it. I mean he instigated it probably.

At the moment, arguably he is the best rugby league player on Gods earth and is presenting an compelling argument for his $800k.

But he’s doing it with this coach, with this side out on the wing and all of the high calibre support staff.

At the moment, whether or not he can carry this exhilarating form for the rest of season we don’t know. We hope so.

Who knows about the eels. So many things will be different.

As for boxing….

 

[Dribble&Yarn]

I reckon he’s actually a huge sniff of playing FB at parra

 

[sammymills]

Yeah, it made sense to me that Brad (under pressure) might try to sneak such a clause in, but if centres and boxing came first, he could achieve this without Brad.

Alas the issue is not his team-mates, but it’s obviously Flanno.

You can pick up in the press conferences, Flanno pays due recognition for his game but there’s not much praise for the man because I think Flanno feels let down.

That’s why Flanno, shafted Lomax for his extra years. He would have had to approve it. I mean he instigated it probably.

At the moment, arguably he is the best rugby league player on Gods earth and is presenting an compelling argument for his $800k.

But he’s doing it with this coach, with this side out on the wing and all of the high calibre support staff.

At the moment, whether or not he can carry this exhilarating form for the rest of season we don’t know. We hope so.

Who knows about the eels. So many things will be different.

As for boxing….

i watched the interview with him for his 100th game jersey presso. He seems to be picking his words very carefully. States he loves his teammates but only really names blake lawrie. Theres definitely more too it than we are privy to or will ever find out.

 

[steerlerbab]

RL is a professional game. People come and go and sometimes let go. From what I saw, when Zack caught that bomb and scored, nearly all team was there celebrating with him. So don't think there is an issue with his team mates. I think his decision to leave goes back to last year when he got dropped from FG towards the end of Hook's time. Anyway, on paper he will be getting less in Parra. but what about third party deals, etc. We have to see full package to compare.

 

[Nutz]

Wouldn’t you pick;
Bradman Best
Stephen Crichton
Kotoni Staggs
Latrell Mitchell
Tom Turbo

Stephen Crichton definitely yes, Mitchell definitely not.
Mind you, Latrell would fit into my culture at home....lazy, has a gut, walk a lot but never run, likes to be the centre of attention and generally hasn't got a clue.

 

[Walpole]

If boxing is any part of the reason Zac wants to leave, perhaps they could put him in the ring with a Tszyu brother to help him understand he is not, and never will be, a fighter.

I suspect however it's a much larger issue that none of us have any idea about. When was the last time a bloke wanted out of a club to take 200k less money while in the best form of his career? There's got to be a reason.

 

[Nutz]

If boxing is any part of the reason Zac wants to leave, perhaps they could put him in the ring with a Tszyu brother to help him understand he is not, and never will be, a fighter.

I suspect however it's a much larger issue that none of us have any idea about. When was the last time a bloke wanted out of a club to take 200k less money while in the best form of his career? There's got to be a reason.

Like sand thru the hour glass, these are days of professional sport.

 

[Nutz]

The other day I was talking to a mate who is still connected to an NRL club and he was talking about a player who is a wasted talent. His downfall is he's overweight and doesn't train hard.
I told my mate I'll speak to Richo and recommend the player... he should fit straight into the WT system....and no it's not Shuster