His move to Parramatta dominated the back pages for weeks before he even signed the four-year deal to join the blue and golds in 2025, but Zac Lomax wants to wait until he’s left the Dragons before he explains why he wanted to leave his junior club.
Lomax is in his seventh season with the Red V, but after recently bringing up his 100-game milestone, the 24-year-old only has a few months left with the club after finally securing the release he was pushing for since last year.
Why he wanted to leave with two years left on a lucrative deal still remains a mystery, with Lomax not willing to go into too much detail about one of the biggest moves of the season.
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“For me and my future, it’s something that’s next year,” he said on Thursday in his first major interview since signing with the Eels.
“I’m more than comfortable to talk about it but for the meantime I feel it would be a little bit disrespectful on my behalf to be talking about what’s going to happen next year.
“My focus for me and my teammates at the moment is giving my best for the Dragons, for the club itself and my teammates.
“I’d like for you guys to feel my performances on the weekend are showing that. My focus is here at the Dragons and being the best teammate I can.
“I feel I’m playing football my teammates are happy with and the club’s happy with and I’m happy with.”
Lomax knows Dragons fans in the community are disappointed to see him go considering he’s playing some of the best footy of his young career, but he’s just happy his future is sorted and the rumblings didn’t linger during the season.
“With everything that went on with mine I guess it went on for a little bit longer and it sort of gained a fair bit of momentum,” he said.
“It went on for a lot of the pre-season.
“Once it was done, it was done and it was good to just sort of put it all past me.”
One of the theories as to why Lomax wanted out is that new Dragons coach Shane Flanagan moved him to the wing and told him some home truths about not being an elite centre.
Most players who hear something like that kick stones and start playing poorly, but Lomax is almost proving a point with his performances out wide that have him in the mix for a State of Origin debut.
“My teammates know that I’m a guy that will do what’s best for the team. I feel I’ve done that,” he said.
“I’d like to hope that you guys can see I’ve proven that and been able to do that on a weekly basis. I feel we’ve started the season well and there’s a few games we could have performed better in patches. I’m positive and looking forward.
“‘Madge’ (NSW coach Michael Maguire) has had a couple of words with me and he just wants me to keep my head down and just compete. My focus is that I want to continuously be able to do that at the Dragons.
“That stuff will take care of itself. I’ve been able to put my best foot forward at doing that on the wing and a little bit at centre, but I feel I’ve been able to build some consistency.
“Whatever team he’s picked will be the right one.”
Lomax has no regrets about the decision he’s made and he just wants to continue winning with the club that handed him his NRL debut back in 2018 before he moves to Parramatta.
“I love the club. I’m a local junior and obviously played my 100th a few weeks ago, and I got a bit emotional, especially having my family here,” he said.
“I love my teammates too. I get to live and work the best job in the world. I love it. For me, the rest of it is a bit of external noise, but at the end of the day I get to wake up and do the job that I love and I’ve always wanted to do as a young boy.
“I’m not the only one that’s made a decision based on a career and moved clubs. It happens every day in rugby league and I’ve been here for a number of years and played 100 games at the club. That’s the way footy goes.
“I’ve made a decision, and I’m more than comfortable to talk about the decision next year when the time is right.”
Source Agencies
