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'SerMax': Are Zac Lomax and Jessica Sergis the 'Posh and Becks' of the NRL?

Roar Guru
19th September, 2018
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Roar Guru
19th September, 2018
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Those who were at ANZ Stadium cheering on the St George Illawarra Dragons’ men’s and women’s sides last Saturday night would have witnessed impressive individual efforts by men’s centre Zac Lomax, and his girlfriend, women’s centre Jessica Sergis.

Sergis was one of the women’s best as she celebrated her 21st birthday in the Dragons’ 22-10 win over the New Zealand Warriors, scoring an impressive try in the second half and saving two others as the club won their first match in the NRL Women’s Premiership.

Highlighting her toughness at such a young age, she’d been knocked out trying to tackle Broncos winger Julia Robinson the previous week, which saw the Dragons outclassed 30-4 by a more experienced Brisbane Broncos side at Suncorp Stadium.

She had previously played rugby league until the age of 12, when restrictions against women playing against men were put into effect, but returned to playing the sport last year, representing both New South Wales and Australia.

Already the 21-year-old has made an impression for the Dragons’ women’s team, and will loom as one of their key players when they face the Sydney Roosters in the first NRLW Sydney Derby this Saturday night, with a possible grand final berth on the line.

Jessica Sergis for the Dragons in the NRLW

Apii Nicholls of the Warriors is tackled by Jessica Sergis of the Dragons (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

After the women’s side’s win over the Warriors, Lomax retained his place in the men’s side when Euan Aitken failed to recover in time from the hamstring injury he suffered in the Dragons’ Round 24 loss the Bulldogs last month.

That opened the door for Lomax, who made his NRL debut in Round 10 and who turns 19 on Monday, to make his return to the side, and he made the most of his promotion, kicking ten goals from twelve attempts across matches against the Knights, Broncos and Rabbitohs.

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Against the Bunnies, he was one of the Dragons’ best as he kicked a penalty goal to put them up by 12-11 with less than five minutes remaining, but they would go down by 13-12 after Adam Reynolds kicked two late field goals to send his side into a preliminary final.

Like Sergis, Lomax also looms as a key player for the Dragons in the future, especially with the retirement of Jason Nightingale, which has left no players remaining at the club from their 2010 premiership triumph.

The relationship between the pair has led some to dub them the ‘Posh and Becks’ of the NRL, with other such couples also existing in other sports, most notably soccer, cricket and tennis.

The most famous sporting couple of them all is David and Victoria Beckham, who first met at the height of their respective careers, with David being a footballer for Manchester United and Victoria being one fifth of British pop group the Spice Girls.

After becoming engaged in January 1998, the couple welcomed their first child, Brooklyn, in March 1999 before marrying four months later. They have since had two further sons, Romeo and Cruz, and a daughter, Harper Seven.

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The family are frequently seen in public. While David is long retired, Victoria recently celebrated a decade of her own fashion brand.

Their relationship, which has lasted over two decades, arguably set the precedent for more famous couples involving sportspeople worldwide.

Following his loss to Marat Safin in the final of the 2005 Australian Open, now-retired tennis player Lleyton Hewitt proposed to his actress girlfriend, Bec Cartwright, some six weeks after they first started dating.

This came following Hewitt’s split from another tennis player, Belgian Kim Clijsters, who called off their engagement over an apparent argument over their wedding plans.

Hewitt and Cartwright wed at the Sydney Opera House in July 2005, and the pair welcomed their first of three children later that year.

We all know why Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin decided to move to Sydney at the end of the 2013 AFL season – to be closer to his then-girlfriend, Jesinta Campbell, whom he had started dating that year.

Lance Franklin

Lance Franklin of the Swans (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

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When he put off contract talks with his then-club Hawthorn, the footballing media speculated that he would move to the Greater Western Sydney Giants, who were crying out for a marquee player after struggling their way through the 2013 season, winning just one match.

Many believed that signing a player of his calibre would not only boost the club’s on-field results, but also generate some revenue and boost the club’s membership figures, which today stands at over 25,000.

However, the Swans’ offer of a nine-year, multi-million dollar contract proved to be too tempting, and Buddy rejected the Giants’ offer to join the red-and-whites, then at the height of their success having taken out the 2012 premiership at the expense of his Hawks.

Buddy then became engaged to Jesinta Campbell in December 2014 and they wed in November 2016.

In January 2006, English Test cricket Kevin Pietersen started dating singer Jessica Taylor, then a member of pop group Liberty X, who were manufactured out of the “losing” finalists from the TV show Popstars, which aired in the UK in 2001.

Like David and Victoria Beckham before them, Pietersen was at the peak of his cricketing career, having just featured in England’s 2005 Ashes series win, while Taylor was also enjoying success in her singing career, which has since stalled.

Just five months after first dating, the pair became engaged, and the pair’s relationship became a major talking point among the media during England’s tour of Australia in 2006-07, in which they were clean-swept 5-0.

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They married in December 2007 with Pietersen’s former national teammate, Darren Gough, acting as best man. They now have two children together.

Pietersen was then sacked from the England Test cricket team after they were embarrassed by Australia during the 2013-14 Ashes series, losing all five Tests with Pietersen scoring over 50 just twice. Many claim his sacking from the team saved his marriage to Taylor.

Another super sporting couple that has also emerged recently is German footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger and Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic, who retired in December 2016 after an injury-riddled final few years.

The pair started dating in 2014, became engaged in 2015 and then married in July 2016. Now living in the United States, the pair welcomed their first child into the world six months ago.

Ivanovic had previously been linked to Australian golfer Adam Scott, but she called time on that relationship after enduring a period of struggle in 2010 which saw her drop out of the world’s top 50.

Another sporting couple soon to wed are American basketballer David Lee and Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, who became engaged late last year.

Caroline Wozniacki

Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

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Wozniacki, who won the Australian Open earlier this year, had previously been engaged to Irish golfer Rory McIlroy, but she called off that relationship in 2014 just days after they had issued wedding invitations to their friends and family.

To conclude, if some of the world’s sporting couples are anything to go by, then the St George Illawarra Dragons’ power couple of Zac Lomax and Jessica Sergis are going to have their work cut out becoming the NRL’s version of Posh and Becks.

But could it possibly happen?

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