Zac Lomax again starred on the wing in State of Origin I, ending any doubts over his best position after much debate during the past year.
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Having admitted to Fox League in the build-up that he was now a certified winger, Lomax scored two tries and ran for 209 metres from an astonishing 25 carries.
The Eels recruit is adamant he has no issue with moving out of the centres, despite that being part of his rationale for leaving the Dragons.
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“When I come into this arena I just love playing with the boys and love competing the best I can,” he said, when asked post-match by Fox Sports News about his position.
“I think for us it’s just being the best we can, it’s a massive test.
“We’ve still got two games to go and we know what Queensland is like, so it’s gonna be a real test but we’ve set ourselves up nice.
“Going over to Perth it’s one we’re going to be up for, so we’ll enjoy the win tonight and for us it’s just something to build on.”
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Lomax was playing alongside Eels skipper Mitchell Moses, another who before the game was the subject of constant debate, regarding his pairing with Nathan Cleary.
Despite doubts about two dominant halfbacks combining effectively, Moses said pre-game that he would check his ego at the door for the sake of the badge. He was true to his word, letting Cleary be the Blues’ dominant playmaker in the No.7 jersey.
“You leave everything at the door and you do what’s best for the team,” Moses said.
“It’s pretty easy following a player like that. He’s a classy player the good thing is we can grow even more, and we can be even better, there’s a lot of positives to take it out of it.
“You come into these camps with classy players and we worked what we wanted to do at the start of the week what was best for the team, and it worked I thought we did that pretty well in the first half.”
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Despite both Lomax and Moses starring in Origin, in clubland these stars are not shining as bright, with the Eels currently 15th on the NRL ladder.
Another team having a rough season is Penrith, who still had five players in the Blues team: Dylan Edwards, Cleary, Brian To’o, Liam Martin and NSW captain Isaah Yeo.
The Panthers are running last amid a stunning implosion after four consecutive premierships but coach Ivan Cleary said the Origin period could be a “real opportunity” for his team.
“I can only imagine there’d be nothing like it (Origin), just the energy and the build up, it would be pretty cool,” he said.
“I definitely hope there’s a flow-on effect for us after that.”
All five Panthers involved in the Origin opener have been named for Sunday’s clash against Parramatta, featuring both Lomax and Moses; though it remains to be seen how many players back up.
“I’ll see how pull up after this,” Moses said.
It is the first time since 1997-98 that NSW have won consecutive games at Suncorp Stadium and the first since 2005-06 that the Blues have won three Origin games in a row.
