Kangaroos winger Zac Lomax is once again facing questions to why he is shifting to the centres for the Eels in 2025 after a monster game for Australia in his side’s 22-10 win. Australia were too strong for a rusty New Zealand outfit on the weekend with Lomax scoring twice to make sure the Kangaroos will feature in the Pacific Championship final.
And yet another strong performance from Lomax on the wing has Cameron Munster, Cooper Cronk and Greg Alexander all questioning why Lomax pushed so hard to feature at centre next year for his new club. Lomax sensationally left the Dragons and take a pay cut with the Eels in a bid to move away from the wing.
Lomax recently confirmed he will play in the centres for his new side under Jason Ryles and appears happy with the decision. The winger signed a $2.6 million deal for the Eels having walked away from a bigger per-year deal at the Dragons.
However, after another standout representative performance wearing the No.5 jersey, the Fox Sports broadcast panel were all asking each other whether he should remain on the wing. “Zac Lomax was brilliant on the wing, is Zac sure he wants to go back and play in the centres for Parramatta? He’s doing a pretty good job,” Alexander asked after the Kangaroos’ victory.
Host Yvonne Sampson asked: “He’s one of the best wingers in the world, why does he want to play centre?”. Queensland great Cronk admitted he will probably be selected on the wing in future representative jerseys even if he shifts to the centres in 2025.
“It does suit him and he can go back and play in the centres for Parramatta but he’ll be picked on the wing every day of the week for New South Wales and Australia the way that he’s playing,” Cronk added. While current State of Origin rival Munster weighed-in and claimed he can’t see Lomax moving away from the wing when wearing the Sky Blue or Aussie jerseys.
“It’s pretty hard to do what he does at full speed, to be able to look up at the ball in the air and catch it like that,” Munster added. “He’s a special talent and I don’t know if I’d be changing positions. Especially playing for the Blues and Australia on the wing.”
NRL fans question Zac Lomax’s positional switch
Lomax made a name for himself as arguably the best winger in the game this year after a standout display in his first State of Origin series. The winger was instrumental in NSW’s series win and has carried his strong form over into the international schedule.
Lomax did suffer a horror moment in defence during the second-half, which saw Will Warbrick catch the ball and step him with ease to keep New Zealand in the contest. But other than one moment, Lomax was brilliant once again in attack. And NRL fans joined Alexander, Sampson, Munster and Cronk in suggesting Lomax should reconsider moving away from the position that has made him one of the most talked about stars in the game.
Lomax is a special, special winger
— SuthoDan (@suthodan) October 27, 2024
Zac Lomax is the best winger in the world and he doesnt want to be 😂🤷♂️#nrl
— Big Rex (@timmyr85) October 27, 2024
Annoying that Lomax becomes the consistent rep player in his final year at Dragons & now he’s gone. Playing well today.
— Johnathan Drama Esq (@jdrama68) October 27, 2024
What are @TheParraEels going to do with Zac Lomax? He wants to play centre but Flano’s decision to move him to the wing has been a master stroke. @Kangaroos 🏉 🏉
— Martin (@hammersaint) October 27, 2024
It’s insane that Zac Lomax refuses to persist with being the best winger in the world and wants to be a bang average centre ….
— Itsme (@itisme808) October 27, 2024
Mal Meninga praises defence in Kangaroos win
Meninga once again praised the Kangaroos’ defence in their second game having only conceded 10 points in 160 minutes of footy. “I’m really pleased with the defensive effort and obviously we scored a few more points than last week. There’s still improvements in us but that’s a good thing,” Meninga added.
One of the standout players in the contest was Penrith Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards. After a lacklustre game against Tonga, Edwards had 17 runs for 182 metres, and sealed the victory with a brilliant line break and try assist.
It appears Meninga won’t make too many changes against whoever they face in the Pacific Championship final having praised his team’s efforts. “If we happened to lose tonight, we were under pressure as a team and we’d have to rely on whoever next week to lose (to make the final),” said coach Meninga. “It’s always pressure under these sorts of relegation and promotion systems.
“I’m just happy that we’ve made it. We’re there. I’m really pleased with the defensive effort and obviously we scored a few more points than last week. There’s still improvements in us but that’s a good thing.”
