{"id":381224,"date":"2024-04-02T03:17:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T03:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=381224"},"modified":"2024-04-02T04:02:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T04:02:16","slug":"dragons-agree-to-release-800k-star-lomax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=381224","title":{"rendered":"Dragons agree to release $800k star Lomax"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>T\ufeffhe <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/nrl\/st-george-illawarra-dragons\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Dragons\">Dragons<\/a> have agreed to let polarising star <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/nrl\/zac-lomax\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Zac Lomax\">Zac Lomax<\/a> depart the club at the end of the 2024 season, despite the fact he was contracted until the end of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>St George Illawarra said in a statement that the final two years of the talented centre&#x27;s contract would be &quot;terminated&quot; and revealed the club would make &quot;no financial contribution&quot; to his 2025 or 2026 seasons.<\/p>\n<p>That allows the $800,000-a-year star &quot;the freedom to explore opportunities with other clubs effective immediately&quot;, the club said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/combat-sports\/boxing-news-2024-tim-tszyu-vs-sebastian-fundora-rematch-agent-deal\/c45dd014-cbf0-4f69-b5b8-3cb0e2156af0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Twist as rival agent reveals Tszyu rematch intent<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/nrl\/news-2024-gold-coast-titans-des-hasler-tanah-boyd-kieran-foran-halves-change-aj-brimson-the-mole-exclusive\/5802c0e9-2d69-454f-b298-007bc8d9a691\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>&#x27;Awkward&#x27; Hasler situation unearthed in &#x27;awful&#x27; performance<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/news\/vontae-davis-dead-news-2024-former-dolphins-colts-player-in-his-south-florida-home-at-age-35\/8cf1c3fe-cd03-4949-9233-5ca8bcf4a41d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"\"><strong>&#x27;We are heartbroken&#x27;: Former NFL star dead at 35<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Dragons added that they would only consider a release before the season&#x27;s end if &quot;a player of considerable standing&quot; was offered in return.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p>New Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has been playing Lomax on a wing instead of in the centres, which has reportedly left him disgruntled.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p>&quot;By finalising this decision now, it provides both Zac and the club with clarity regarding the future, allowing us time to strategise for the upcoming seasons,&quot; said Dragons chief executive Ryan Webb in the club statement.<\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"d42be25e-2eb4-4709-b61a-276648964822\" src=\"https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/d42be25e-2eb4-4709-b61a-276648964822\" alt=\"Zac Lomax of the Dragons celebrates.\" data-width=\"4470\" data-height=\"2980\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&quot;This arrangement enables the Dragons to focus on refining our top-30 roster and utilising additional cap space, while Zac can pursue his future endeavours with another club.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Lomax&#x27;s talent is undoubted \u2014 at one stage he was a member of Brad Fittler&#x27;s NSW State of Origin squad \u2014 but fluctuations in form have frustrated fans and the <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/nrl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"NRL\">NRL<\/a> coaches he&#x27;s had: Paul McGregor, Anthony Griffin and Flanagan.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Zac has consistently demonstrated his talent and dedication to the club, especially in the face of external noise,&quot; Flanagan said.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We have full confidence that he will maintain his high level of performance for the remainder of the season, benefiting all those associated with the Dragons.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Lomax made his NRL debut in 2018 and has since chalked up 97 top-grade games.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.9now.com.au\/nrl-premiership?ocid=nine.com.au-9now-a19594-nrlpremiership&amp;_branch_match_id=1171248026869991093&amp;_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXt8zLL9dLLCjQy8nMy9b3c%2Fdw8g7MDitPTQIA0zCY0SEAAAA%3D\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><strong>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><em><strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Dragons are placed 13th on the \ufeffladder ahead of round five, in which they will face the Knights in Newcastle on Friday night.<\/p>\n<p>They are aiming to score a second win in succession after producing an upset against Manly in Wollongong on Saturday afternoon, defeating Anthony Seibold&#x27;s side 20-12.<\/p>\n<p>The struggling club is aiming to reach the NRL finals for the first time since 2018.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>T\ufeffhe Dragons have agreed to let polarising star Zac Lomax depart the club at the end of the 2024 season, despite the fact he was <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=381224\" title=\"Dragons agree to release $800k star Lomax\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":374834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=381224"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":381226,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381224\/revisions\/381226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/374834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=381224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=381224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=381224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}