Dragons coach Anthony Griffin reportedly failed to tell each Zac Lomax and Jacob Liddle why that they had been axed forward of Magic Round in a shock transfer.
Griffin’s choice to drop the centre and dummy-half got here after the Red V slumped to their fourth straight loss towards the Bulldogs in Round 9.
According to NRL 360 co-host Paul Kent, Lomax reacted emotionally to the news and wasn’t instructed precisely why he had been axed from the Dragons’ beginning facet.
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Rugby league legend Braith Anasta stated as an ex-player he could be determined for suggestions and Kent backed Griffin’s choice to permit Lomax to chill down for a couple of days.
The Daily Telegraph’s Paul Crawley questioned how else Lomax was meant to react after he was made the “scapegoat” for the Dragons’ poor kind.
“What do you want him to do, cartwheels out of the joint?” Crawley stated.
“It is a coach’s job, if you were told you’re not hosting the show tonight you’d expect an explanation.
“Even if you were in a bad mood it is the coach’s job to talk some sense into you, and I will tell you it hasn’t helped the situation down there.”
Crawley additionally questioned Griffin’s skill to maximise the expertise of the gamers inside his squad, pointing to the 2016 Australian Schoolboys staff.
Both Lomax and Rabbitohs gun Campbell Graham featured within the staff — and Graham has since kicked on to play for the Kangaroos, with a possible Origin debut looming in 2023.
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“You’ve got a player there that honestly when he was coming through the grades was spoken about as a potential Origin player,” Crawley stated.
“He came through in the same Australian Schoolboys side as Campbell Graham, and look at the trajectory of the two players at different clubs.
“Lomax would have been ahead of him… the bloke’s gone backwards.
“Under the three years of Anthony Griffin’s tenure I can’t spot one player that you’ve seen develop beyond their expectations.
“You and I both know Zac Lomax has had issues in the past, the club has signed him until the end of 2026, it is the coach’s job to try and find a way to get the best out of him.”
The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio additionally defined a scarcity of communication has been a constant subject that has arisen at golf equipment coached by Griffin.
He agreed that Lomax wanted a circuit breaker and his kind was deserving of being dropped.
“The output at roughly $700,000-a-season, I can’t argue with the decision of Anthony Griffin,” Riccio stated.
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“However I do have an issue with the feedback that we are getting with the decision and the feedback Lomax may not have received in regards to his relegation.
“So to Jacob Liddle, this is a consistent discussion point around Anthony Griffin’s coaching structure, his lack of communication.
“This is another example of it and players deserve better, certainly a player chewing up that much of your salary cap and not performing to the standard of what you expect.
“I would think some sort of feedback… is fair enough.”
As it stands Griffin has been knowledgeable that he must reapply for his personal job for 2024, together with his contract expiring on the season’s finish.
Kent believes Griffin has now determined the “gloves are off”, realising he gained’t be in his position for for much longer after a disappointing show towards an undermanned Bulldogs outfit.
“The bigger problem here too is that Zac Lomax and Jacob Liddle have become the scapegoats for a poor performance against a Bulldogs side that were missing Jacob Kiraz, Josh Addo-Carr, Viliame Kikau, Max King and Luke Thompson,” Crawley stated.
“The bigger issue is that now they take on the Tigers coming off a win against the Panthers… it is an incredible position for a club to be in.”
Source: www.foxsports.com.au