New St George Illawarra Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has made his first major selection decision ahead of his side’s season opener, shifting Zac Lomax to the wing in favour of Jack Bird in the centres.
Lomax had been heavily criticised over the last two seasons, in large part due to his $700k per season contract in conjunction with a string of disappointing showings.
The 24-year-old was once viewed as the future of the Dragons and is now seemingly on the outer with his new coach.
With rumours swirling over his unhappiness at the positional switch, The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio opened up on his long-term future at the club.
“Reports have emerged yesterday, in relation to his selection on the wing in Round One, that he’s a little bit disgruntled,” Riccio told SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“Shane Flanagan has come into this football team to change the direction.
“Zac Lomax has underachieved, I would argue for the last three to four years, Flanagan is clearly looking to prompt Lomax into a performance and into a standard of footy that he’s paid to deliver.
“If he’s disgruntled, two things are going to happen, we’re either going to get a response this weekend against the Titans, and going forward for him to fight his way back into the centre position his wants, or he’s going to be out of that footy club.”
Riccio admitted that there are several clubs that would happily take on Lomax but also credited Jack Bird for forcing Flanagan’s hand with the change.
“There will be other clubs lining up to take Zac Lomax, we know he’s talented, we know he has skill that would suit other football clubs,” Riccio added.
“The next month is going to be fascinating to see how it unfolds.
“What hasn’t been spoken about in all of this, in relation to Zac Lomax being picked on the wing is that Jack Bird has had a stellar offseason and has actually outperformed Zac Lomax, that’s a big part of his selection.”
Lomax will make his 2024 season debut for the Dragons on the wing for his side’s clash with the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday night.