Temora has produced some quality NRL talent over the last 30 years. Former Dragon Trent Barrett, Canterbury’s Steve Reardon, the Roosters’ Angus Crichton and current representative Panther Liam Martin all hail from the south-central New South Wales town.
With a modest population of around 5000, the proud locals could well claim to be over-represented per capita when it comes to producing quality footballers.
The latest product of the Temora conveyor belt of talent is St George Illawarra’s Zac Lomax, former Australian Schoolboys representative and NSWRL’s under-18s player of the year in 2017.
At just 22 years of age, with 64 matches now under his belt and a growing reputation for being somewhat antagonistic and confrontational in the heat of battle, Lomax has certainly made an impact on the NRL competition.
Already in his relatively short NRL career there have been bright moments of class and quality and a few others that have proven a little embarrassing for him. Despite the obvious inconsistency, many still believe his overall potential and future value outweigh any doubts around his long-term success in the NRL.
Yet despite the improving and now top-eight play of the Dragons in 2022, the question as to whether Lomax is doing more harm than good to the chances of the famous Red V in the current premiership campaign is a fair one.
There is clearly no doubt that he has considerable talent with ball in hand. With 42 tackle breaks for the season (42nd in the NRL), average running metres of 108.73 (60th in the NRL) and a handful of try assists that have helped the Dragons build their recent charge to finals contention, Lomax continues to show glimpses of what he could perhaps be.
(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
However, should he ever hope to become a top-level NRL centre, it is the other and significantly deficient areas of the former Illawarra Steelers junior’s game that continue to demand attention and improvement.
The most notable of the flaws in Lomax’s game are his errors. He currently tops the NRL with 28 handling mistakes across 15 matches, and even with other errors factored into the total-errors category he still sits top of the pops.
The eight penalties Lomax have conceded are also a problem, with his sometimes overly passionate and less-than-composed approach to the contest placing him 41st in the NRL when it comes to giving a clear advantage to the opposition via an infringement.
There have also been 20 ineffective tackles for Lomax in 2022 (40th in the NRL) to go with 29 clear misses, and his overall tackle efficiency percentage of 88.9 suggests there is still much work to be done in that area.
There is no doubting the talent residing in Lomax, something acknowledged by the New South Wales selectors in 2020 when he was named in the preliminary squad in the lead-up to the State of Origin series.
Yet the statistical anomaly he presents in terms of the positive aspects to his game and a top-50 ranking across the four categories listed by the NRL as areas of negative play make Lomax something of a problematic feature in the Dragons outfit. Especially as coach Anthony Griffin desperately searches for a greater level of consistency from a squad keen to give their fans a taste of finals football for the first time since 2018.
After the glory of the 2010 premiership, the Dragons have managed to feature in September action on just two occasions, finishing no higher than seventh on the ladder across the last ten seasons.
Zac Lomax is one of the new breed of Dragons that fans of the Red V hope will lift the club into an extended period of success and consistency. However, his individual game is far from consistent as he nears the completion of his fifth season in the top grade.
From a neutral perspective Lomax is something of a difficult watch, with moments of inept and frustrating play interspersed with flashes of class and power that the Dragons obviously saw in him as a junior.
However, modern professional sport is a cut-and-thrust business with little room for sentimentality and blind trust. Thus the question of whether the cons in the Lomax game outweigh the pros is a fair one.
That conclusion is one for the Dragons to draw, and with a current contract situation that keeps Lomax at Kogarah until 2025, it appears St George Illawarra are confident he will eventually become the player they anticipated he would be.
Joe Bondin
Guest
I think this is a pretty over the top summary. Yes he’s made the occasional mistake, and certainly that brain explosion with Tyson earlier in the year was regrettable but hold your horses! Your stats mean nothing to get concerned about! Some of his poor decisions were made in the heat of the moment..all players make mistakes... even the top players will tell you they have brain explosions from time to time. He is passionate about his footy and the team. He understands his mistakes made and His game is already showing signs of improvement. I’m sure from here on out we will see good improvement in his game structure and will be talked about in SOO mix again
mushi
Roar Guru
I think the author also wrote something about how useless tackle percentage is... So maybe it's a hit the quota article
mushi
Roar Guru
Fair enough think we’ve crossed purposes. My post was just regarding Stu’s comment about about the business of sport for the team. Though I think we’ve landed at the same point, making it a cut throat money based decision doesn’t deliver a good outcome for the club. Good organisations make it about more than money
Panthers
Guest
From Temora or Young. Yet St.George are still allowed to call him a St.George-Illawarra junior. He’d be through the St.George pathways program. Martin came through the Penrith junior system. Through the Penrith pathways program. Yet many here would wish to call him an import to Penrith. :stoked:
Simon G
Roar Rookie
That’s really interesting to know actually, I’ve never heard that before…
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
1. Zac Lomax is one of the new breed of Dragons 2. a growing reputation for being somewhat antagonistic and confrontational in the heat of battle 3. there have been bright moments of class and quality and a few others that have proven a little embarrassing for him 4. There is clearly no doubt that he has considerable talent with ball in hand 5. He currently tops the NRL with 28 handling mistakes. He's also given away 8 penalties and 29 missed tackles. 6. the question as to whether Lomax is doing more harm than good Here's your answer. Starts with "D", ends in "y", five letters and rhymes with Wufty.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
My point is more about attitudes.Lomax appears cavilier in his approach and wasting his obvious talents in a team environment-as long as he’s colllecting his money he’s relatively happy and emotionally detached.Kyrgios has great emotional attachment and gets distracted to the point he doesn’t care if he wins or losses on the scoreboard- in his mind he’s a winner by pocketing the money, at the same time forgoing his obvious talent to achieve greatness.
chud
Roar Rookie
Yes... but nobody needs Melbourne to gain another gun...
Maris
Guest
The author makes some fair observations but his comments about Lomax’s defence are ridiculous. Lomax is arguably the best defensive centre in the comp. The author states that his 88.9% tackle efficiency suggests ‘there’s much work to be done’. I doubt there’s another starting centre in the NRL with a better number in that stat, where centres typically come in in the high 70s to mid 80s. Lomax’s career tackle efficiency is just under 91%, which is unheard of at centre.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Editors don't like lists beyond three or four. Reads a bit like a wikipedia grab.
Dodgy Dragons
Roar Rookie
Saints wouldn’t be better off without Lomax. He is a naturally gifted player that needs to mature, and lose his ego and concentrate on his own game. The right coach will bring Zac up to his full potential(unfortunately it’s not Griffin) as you can see his frustration with the lack of attacking game plan currently at the dragons. I wish they’d give the kid some early ball in attack, rather than plodders setting up all the time, but the Griffin attack plan is pretty limited.
Soda
Roar Rookie
I think the more Lomax and Rava play together the better they both get. Lomax is frustrating because we all see the ability.
mushi
Roar Guru
Or did you mean they still try to win? In which case that's the point. There's 40+ years of data showing money is a motivator but emotional attachment is better.
mushi
Roar Guru
Not sure what your point is then. My point was a about the front office of a great team and you're countering with the behaviour of an athlete in an individual sport who has never been top 10.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
I understand these are two completely different scenarios but the desire to win transcends all competitive Sports
mushi
Roar Guru
He’s not running an organisation, team or brand, just himself. As an individual if you are willing to do what others feel lacks integrity you’ll make money individually. The key here is not caring how it impacts everyone else, can’t run a team like that
andrew
Roar Rookie
Don't think he'll do it again, especially if Klemmer is near. :laughing:
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
Gee ,I wonder if that principle applies to Nick Kyrgios
mushi
Roar Guru
"However, modern professional sport is a cut-and-thrust business with little room for sentimentality and blind trust. " This is where we are always decades behind. Every great team globally has pushed past the transactional. Sustained success is entirely dependent on building emotional attachment
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
If he cuts out the flick pass in his game he will be much better. I love his enthusiasm in attack and defense and he kicks goals at nearly 80%. Dragons ate definitely better with him in the side