Sydney Roosters v St George Illawarra: Dragons slam ‘ridiculous’ Zac Lomax fine over Frizell incident
As the Dragons rally around their under-fire centre, the former teammate whose back Zac Lomax jumped on to earn a contrary conduct charge is reportedly giving him the cold shoulder.
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Zac Lomax has been widely criticised for the Tyson Frizell incident but his St George Illawarra teammates have slammed the centre’s punishment as ‘ridiculous’.
Lomax was hit with a $1000 fine after being charged with a grade one contrary conduct for jumping on Frizell’s back after the Dragons scored a try.
The Newcastle forward didn’t take too kindly to the attention and rag dolled Lomax to the ground as players from both sides swarmed in to diffuse the situation.
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While the brain snap moment has been lambasted by fans and commentators, Dragons forward Jaydn Su’A believes Lomax does not deserve the headlines or the punishment.
“I think it’s ridiculous. But that’s not my call to make. If they want to fine him $1,000 … he’s got plenty of money, so it should be sweet,” Su’A said.
“I did have a chat to him, he is sweet. I do feel a little bit sorry for him, the media has kind of blown it way out of proportion. But that is what they do I guess.
“I don’t think there was any malice in it.
“They were former teammates. We see players do that in other teams as well, but they don’t cope the stick that he’s copped this week. I think it’s unfortunate.
“He has probably put a target on his head, but he thrives under that certain circumstance.”
The off-the-ball encounter, which occurred in the 52nd minute, left Knights David Klemmer enforcer so infuriated he confronted Lomax at full-time.
Despite the duo being former teammates, it’s believed Frizell has ignored Lomax’s attempts to apologise after Sunday’s game.
Dragons captain Ben Hunt also believes the fine was too harsh but conceded Lomax had done the wrong thing.
“I had a little chat with Zac, I didn’t see it live, I was celebrating the try. I didn’t know what happened. I watched it back and, yeah, we had a little chat and he knows he was in the wrong,” Hunt said.
“He is remorseful for it. It won’t happen again.
“I think it’s (fine) a bit much. I’ve seen guys get off for things much worse or what I think is worse.”
It’s not the only heart-to-heat the skipper has had this week.
“He’s learning how to become an NRL player and do the difficult things. I had a pretty good conversation with him yesterday and he’s playing some good footy in the NSW Cup side and working hard to get back,” Hunt said.
“Everyone expects a lot of these kids.
“They come in and have one or two good games and everyone thinks they are going to do that every week and that is not the case. They come in at 18, 19, 20-years old and expect to be world beaters every week, it’s just not going to happen.”
Griffin also dropped emerging playmaker Talatau Amone to the bench after starting the season in the No. 6 jumper.
But Hunt has backed Amone, who is contracted until the end of season 2023, to earn a recall into the starting side and transform into the Dragons’ long-term five-eighth.
“Hopefully it’s still at the Dragons and playing five-eighth,” Hunt said.
“He’s a special talent Junior, there is no doubt about that. He’s got the skill and talent to play the game.
“It’s just developing him as a young guy. I think I played off the bench until I was 24, it was a fair while. It is all part of their development.”
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