Zac Lomax

[Dragon David]

DD and Carrera the decision to go with WIN was a bad bad decision it was to keep all the board jobs not to help or have stability at club land only for the board. If Paul Smith took over you wouldn’t have seen any of them all gone as Paul stated it was a dumpster fire.

Paul Smith was devastated that his offer was knocked back - unbelievable. Things might have been a lot different during the past 5 years if he was selected. Who knows? We might have won another grand final or two by now and maintained a high position on the ladder on a yearly basis.

 

[Dragons4me]

Lomax has stuffed himself up big time and just shows how dumb he can be , to take half a mill less to move and 4 years at that not knowing what is happening in the future.
and it is happening right now, The Eels could lose both half's and the re build could take years .
He could not have chosen a worse club to get aboard on right now and the unlucky part was they were travelling ok at the time he got conned both by Arthur who thought he was staying at the Eels and then got conned by the EEls board who refused to add the clause to be released if Aurthur was sacked knowing they had a tomahawk axe waiting to take Aurthur's head off after Lomax signed and cooling off period gone.

I can't help agreeing if last night's game between Parra and Souths is anything to go by. Parra were woeful. I picked them in the vague belief of home ground advantage, but they were dreadful. A first-up coach is going to have his work cut out for him whoever he is, which in my opinion is why I'm glad we have SFlanno.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Ryles knocks back Saints and keen on Parra. Both clubs and their management don't seem too far apart (basket cases) at the time he has been approached. I would be so interested if he gets it to see how he goes and if it is all hype.

I have a feeling Flanno is like my favourite manager Jurgen Klopp previously at Liverpool FC in the premier league. That is he talks to the player during negotiations. As soon as the players is after money or they show no interest in his team he just does not want to deal with them anymore. Flanno may have had that with AFB, now Stefano and others Saints were linked with. Klopp has made Liverpool so much better whilst he was there because of this method of building a strong team and I hope Flanno has the same success.

 

[Harry Bath]

LOL, Gordon is worth a Billion dollars. Win isn't about to collapse.

I think Ryles thought that he would snag the Storm game after Bellamy however it looks more and more likely that Bellamy will be the storm coach into his nineties so he needs to move somewhere else to secure a first grade position.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Bellamy will not leave in a hurry. I can see him there at least 5 more years.

 

[Ghostrider22]

Paul Smith was devastated that his offer was knocked back - unbelievable. Things might have been a lot different during the past 5 years if he was selected. Who knows? We might have won another grand final or two by now and maintained a high position on the ladder on a yearly basis.

DD I believe it would been totally different, the way Paul runs his business, the Dragons would have been the same and successful. To watch what goes on there it’s just shows everyone poor leadership, poor financial management and the footy club is stonewalled by that leadership.

The only great positive to come out from this shitshow is Shane, with the team his has, they have been achieving more since he arrived than what was before. So frustrating being a Dragon at the moment but time will tell. Great stuff DD keep on punching

 

[Dragon David]

DD I believe it would been totally different, the way Paul runs his business, the Dragons would have been the same and successful. To watch what goes on there it’s just shows everyone poor leadership, poor financial management and the footy club is stonewalled by that leadership.

The only great positive to come out from this shitshow is Shane, with the team his has, they have been achieving more since he arrived than what was before. So frustrating being a Dragon at the moment but time will tell. Great stuff DD keep on punching

I like to throw a few uppercuts from time to time. You keep strong too Ghostrider.

 

[Veteran Dragon]

If Lomax is leaving because Flanno would not let him box what’s to say the new Parramatta coach won’t take the same position. Brad Arthur sacking must be rocking Lomax‘s boat at the moment.

 

[BLM01]

Ryles knocks back Saints and keen on Parra. Both clubs and their management don't seem too far apart (basket cases) at the time he has been approached. I would be so interested if he gets it to see how he goes and if it is all hype.

I have a feeling Flanno is like my favourite manager Jurgen Klopp previously at Liverpool FC in the premier league. That is he talks to the player during negotiations. As soon as the players is after money or they show no interest in his team he just does not want to deal with them anymore. Flanno may have had that with AFB, now Stefano and others Saints were linked with. Klopp has made Liverpool so much better whilst he was there because of this method of building a strong team and I hope Flanno has the same success.

I just wonder if Ryles will ring Gus for advice as Gus was so eager to advise him to steer clear of the Dragons

 

[56to66]

Who is going to pack his bags?

 

[Illusion]

If Lomax is leaving because Flanno would not let him box what’s to say the new Parramatta coach won’t take the same position. Brad Arthur sacking must be rocking Lomax‘s boat at the moment.

Any chance of him back flipping now that Ryles is the Parra coach ......... ?

 

[Dragon David]

Any chance of him back flipping now that Ryles is the Parra coach ......... ?

I don't think so. I think he will be packing his bag and driving to the Eels club first thing after mad Monday. Even if it was Hannay, he would be going. Lomax has not even thought about backflips one iota I don't think. He made the decision that he wanted out ages ago and he signed with the Eels and that is now a fait accompli.

 

[56to66]

I don't think so. I think he will be packing his bag and driving to the Eels club first thing after mad Monday. Even if it was Hannay, he would be going. Lomax has not even thought about backflips one iota I don't think. He made the decision that he wanted out ages ago and he signed with the Eels and that is now a fait accompli.

Question, will Ryles be a success or failure, I reckon St George Dodged a bullet, he'll be another Mary McGregor or Brad Arthur.
Why did they sack Arthur's?

 

[Illusion]

Question, will Ryles be a success or failure, I reckon St George Dodged a bullet, he'll be another Mary McGregor or Brad Arthur.
Why did they sack Arthur's?

I'm with you on Ryles untested , the only thing he has going for him is he has had Storm training , but doesn't have their cattle ....... So why do we think he will turn them around , I feel they are heading down our path that we were on ........ Anyway good luck coach Ryles .........

 

[Wolfgang90]

He looks pretty happy with Moses in Blues camp which is good to see. Hopefully he can backflip on the eels & convince Moses to come to the dragons

 

[Old Timer]

Of course Lomax making SOO must mean the selection of Bird at centre to push Lomax to right wing was the best outcome for the team because Lomax is evidently now reaching his potential as a winger but might never play there except for rep footy.

The fact that Ravalawa scored 21 tries out of 21 games on the right wing in a poorly performed team in 2023 and if not mistaken has been our leading try scorer playing on right wing in 3 of the last 4 years is completely irrelevant.

The fact that Ravalawa is scoring no tries on the left wing but when he played a couple of games back on the right wing immediately got back into try scoring mode is also irrelevant.

So as an outcome Zac got to SOO (which I couldn't care less about) and in that process we have now lost him and in the meantime we have now turned our previous leading try scorer into a complete basket case who people are happy to offload and in the meantime we have secured a centre position for a flightless Bird and we get to keep him in Lomax's absence.

Now no doubt there is an argument for the defence factor in the Ravalawa decision as evidently Ravalawa can score tries with his right hand but not tackle on his left shoulder but supposedly can tackle on his right shoulder but can't score a try with his left hand. So giving up / dismissing a player who scored @ a try / game on the right wing is good coaching.

Rava therefore must be totally un-fixable (I think someone said it's something about Fijian's) and his try scoring ability needs to be totally disregarded or is simply not required and he needs to be let go and replaced with either C T or Fegai who evidently might score a try or 2 now and then.

Such a shame that Ravalawa is unlike Sua who evidently quickly improved under S F so much in fact that he got to play SOO again, well 2 games at least, so I guess for him to get dropped he must have stopped listening to S F as it is all about the coach isn't it ?

Now when looking at some of the issues re the right side defence and the Ravalawa decision I note that our 7 who is anything but a 7 still defends on that side despite being a cereal arm grabber and in defence is often caught a bit infield out of position & or making the wrong decision and when you combine that with our F B who is supposed to slide across behind the defensive line enabling us to try and hold our shape and width but rarely does so which makes outside men panic and come in has nothing to do with the problem either or perhaps it is just more acceptable now because Hunt is a SOO & Aust 9 and Sloan evidently caught some bombs the other day so other issues are forgivable.

So for all the hoopla around Lomax and his SOO selection etc etc ask yourself are were we better off with the existing Bird / Lomax and the upcoming Bird / Feagai scenario or would we have been better served with Lomax / Ravalawa and a different game plan (lol) to allow Lomax more freedom ?

 

[Inisai Toga]

Well not sure I agree with all your points here, but I enjoyed reading your line of argument and your perspective and logic.

 

[Veteran Dragon]

I'm with you on Ryles untested , the only thing he has going for him is he has had Storm training , but doesn't have their cattle ....... So why do we think he will turn them around , I feel they are heading down our path that we were on ........ Anyway good luck coach Ryles .........

I agree, not many rookie coaches make it in the first or even 2nd year. Being an assistant coach is a lot different to being the head coach. It is a bit like a reserve grade player being a world beater but find playing NRL is a whole different ball game and can‘t make it in the NRL. Also Moses and Gutherson are renowned hot heads when things are not going well. Lomax can also spit the dummy at times forfeiting hundreds of thousands of $$$ because he was shifted from centre to wing is a good example. It remains to be seen if he has the right temperament to blend in at the Eels.

 

[Mojo]

Of course Lomax making SOO must mean the selection of Bird at centre to push Lomax to right wing was the best outcome for the team because Lomax is evidently now reaching his potential as a winger but might never play there except for rep footy.

The fact that Ravalawa scored 21 tries out of 21 games on the right wing in a poorly performed team in 2023 and if not mistaken has been our leading try scorer playing on right wing in 3 of the last 4 years is completely irrelevant.

The fact that Ravalawa is scoring no tries on the left wing but when he played a couple of games back on the right wing immediately got back into try scoring mode is also irrelevant.

So as an outcome Zac got to SOO (which I couldn't care less about) and in that process we have now lost him and in the meantime we have now turned our previous leading try scorer into a complete basket case who people are happy to offload and in the meantime we have secured a centre position for a flightless Bird and we get to keep him in Lomax's absence.

Now no doubt there is an argument for the defence factor in the Ravalawa decision as evidently Ravalawa can score tries with his right hand but not tackle on his left shoulder but supposedly can tackle on his right shoulder but can't score a try with his left hand. So giving up / dismissing a player who scored @ a try / game on the right wing is good coaching.

Rava therefore must be totally un-fixable (I think someone said it's something about Fijian's) and his try scoring ability needs to be totally disregarded or is simply not required and he needs to be let go and replaced with either C T or Fegai who evidently might score a try or 2 now and then.

Such a shame that Ravalawa is unlike Sua who evidently quickly improved under S F so much in fact that he got to play SOO again, well 2 games at least, so I guess for him to get dropped he must have stopped listening to S F as it is all about the coach isn't it ?

Now when looking at some of the issues re the right side defence and the Ravalawa decision I note that our 7 who is anything but a 7 still defends on that side despite being a cereal arm grabber and in defence is often caught a bit infield out of position & or making the wrong decision and when you combine that with our F B who is supposed to slide across behind the defensive line enabling us to try and hold our shape and width but rarely does so which makes outside men panic and come in has nothing to do with the problem either or perhaps it is just more acceptable now because Hunt is a SOO & Aust 9 and Sloan evidently caught some bombs the other day so other issues are forgivable.

So for all the hoopla around Lomax and his SOO selection etc etc ask yourself are were we better off with the existing Bird / Lomax and the upcoming Bird / Feagai scenario or would we have been better served with Lomax / Ravalawa and a different game plan (lol) to allow Lomax more freedom ?

I agree with all of this, with the qualification that I don’t hold Sloan responsible for the weak edge defence. I think it was a coached defensive pattern that embarrassingly exposed our centres and wingers. Our defence structures thankfully have changed this year but the result has been that we’re now more solid on the edges but weaker overall.

Now were having blowout losses against good attacking sides but we look good against weaker sides.

Basically, our defence structures over the past few years have allowed our forwards to take it easy while the opposition went around us. This year we have a better structure but our pack can’t go the distance against better packs.

Meanwhile our attack is like a headless chook - because it literally doesn’t have a head(Bunt)!

Lomax is performing better on the wing IMO simply because he gets his hands on the ball more often and also has more room to move. He’s simply a great athlete but at centre in a clunky backline he had no room to move. Too late now but I would have loved to see him given a run at 6.

There’s never been any doubt in my mind that we need a 7. IMO just about anybody would be better than Bunt in the 7 jersey. That‘s the #1 priority IMO.

I don’t get the enthusiasm around dropping Rava and we shouldn’t have extended Bird (options or no options). I‘ve never rated him very highly and he was obviously completely busted when he was extended - now he’s obviously past it.

 

[TheRev]

o The contracts for Bird and Lawrie were something Flanno inherited.. they didnt offer Bird an extension, he forced our hand. And maybe Bird will find another gig yet... that said hes not the worst depth to have in nsw cup since he can cover probably 1/3/4/6.. and Mat Feagai covers 1/2/3/4/5. Not sure what they will do with Max.

o Rava I believe is not meeting the mark @ training and off-the-paddock.. thats why he is on the outer.. and it reflects in him not meeting his potential on the field also. It really gives the coach no choice, those standards are important to set for the group, that said I am really excited to see him back this week, because his motivation will be sky-high after a horror 6 week period.. if he can break a few broncos players.. it will really set us up for a win.