{"id":384889,"date":"2024-04-15T00:18:56","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T00:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=384889"},"modified":"2024-04-15T03:04:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T03:04:22","slug":"call-for-drastic-talks-to-stop-plain-dumb-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=384889","title":{"rendered":"Call for drastic talks to stop 'plain dumb' release"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dragons<\/a> need to convince Zac Lomax<\/a> to drop his deal with the Eels<\/a> and stay in the Red V.<\/p>\n

Lomax – who was granted a release for 2025 a couple of weeks ago – has been the Dragons' best player this year and was outstanding in the 24-12 win over the Tigers at Campbelltown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The tall winger was the difference between two struggling teams, scoring one try, laying on another and making a line break.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>'On another planet': Sticky goes nuclear in Hasler spray<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Tiger takes home unwanted new record from Masters<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>'Horrendous' Gunners implode as title hopes crushed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Lomax clearly wants out and has got his way – but the Dragons need to sit him down, show some leadership in the front office and work out a way to make him happy and stay.<\/p>\n

\"Dragons<\/p>\n

Lomax is a marquee player, has never been in better form and it's plain dumb to let him walk away next season.<\/p>\n

He has agreed to terms with the Eels for 2025 – but we've seen in the past that players can be convinced to change their mind during the cooling off period, so it's not too late to get a different outcome – a smart club would never allow this situation to occur.<\/p>\n

***<\/h2>\n

Political correctness is killing rugby league – and cost Manly victory in Saturday afternoon's thriller in Auckland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Manly had the game won until Shaun Johnson took a late field goal attempt and his leg collided with Manly's Josh Aloiai.<\/p>\n

It was more a case of Johnson kicking the Sea Eagles prop than Aloiai smashing Johnson.<\/p>\n

But the game's obsession with protecting kickers came into play, the bunker decided it was a penalty and to add insult to injury, Aloiai was placed on report.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and <\/strong><\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Costly<\/p>\n

The whole situation was a farce – and to add to it Aloiai was charged over the incident<\/a> – even though his act was not malicious or dangerous.<\/p>\n

The subsequent penalty goal sent the game into extra time and after 10 minutes, scores remained locked at 22-all.<\/p>\n

Decisions like this are what turns fans off the game – even Wahs supporters will have to admit it should never have been a penalty.<\/p>\n

But NRL officials have decided this is the way rugby league will now be played – and the game, the fans and the players are the losers.<\/p>\n

***<\/h2>\n

Nicho Hynes<\/a> will probably scoop up the Dally M points again – but his sidekick Braydon Trindall must be one of the most underrated players in the game.<\/p>\n

Trindall had three try assists in the patchy 34-22 win over the injury-ravaged Rabbitohs<\/a> on Saturday night and showed some lovely touches with the football.<\/p>\n

But he is not one of the game's glamour boys and as a result, gets little ink in the press.<\/p>\n

Trindall takes a lot of the pressure off Hynes, has a good kicking game and is a much-improved player in 2024.<\/p>\n

If he and Hynes can keep their combination firing, the Sharks<\/a> will be a threat to the top teams in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\"Trindall<\/p>\n

***<\/h2>\n

Joey Lussick has stepped up to solve one of the Eels<\/a>' biggest problems from last season – the dummy-half role.<\/p>\n

When Parramatta made the 2022 grand final, Reed Mahoney was a key man in their journey.<\/p>\n

But then Mahoney moved to the Bulldogs and the Eels really struggled to replace him, missing the finals last year.<\/p>\n

Lussick got a chance last season but failed to nail it – but has obviously worked hard over the summer and has made the No.9 jumper his own.<\/p>\n

In the vital win over the Cowboys last Saturday night<\/a>, Lussick made a game-high 41 tackles, scored one try and had two disallowed.<\/p>\n

He's been a big improver in 2024 and the Eels and reaping the rewards.<\/p>\n

\"Lussick<\/p>\n

***<\/h2>\n

Without a doubt, the best 'non-fullback' in the NRL is Joey Manu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Filling in for the injured James Tedesco against Newcastle on Thursday night<\/a>, Manu was sensational, running for nearly 350 metres.<\/p>\n

The classy utility was the difference between two good teams – but will be back in the centres when Tedesco returns to the side next week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It's clear that Manu is now a better fullback than Tedesco – but Teddy has runs on the board and is the Roosters' captain.<\/p>\n

That earns him respect – and the No.1 jumper\u2026 for the time being.<\/p>\n

But later in the season, if the Roosters find themselves in crisis mode, that may all change.<\/p>\n

***<\/h2>\n

When it comes to under-rated players, Josh King of the Storm<\/a> is putting himself up near the top of the list in the early rounds of 2024.<\/p>\n

The quiet forward ran for 167 metres in the nail-biting win over the Bulldogs on Friday night<\/a> – the most by any Storm forward.<\/p>\n

He also cut several Dogs forwards in half with his scything tackles and held the middle together with his defence.<\/p>\n

Just another Craig Bellamy success story – no coach in the NRL has such a knack for making average players into very good ones.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

***<\/h2>\n

The Broncos<\/a> have found themselves a genuine attacking weapon from the bench in giant prop Xavier Willison.<\/p>\n

The big Kiwi front-rower, still only 21 and in his fourth season of grade football, has had his career marred by injury but now looks fit and fiery.<\/p>\n

Coming off the pine, he scored the Broncos' opening try in the win over the Dolphins on Friday night<\/a> as they turned a 6-0 deficit into a comfortable 28-14 win.<\/p>\n

Willison came close to adding another try in the second half and has the size and strength to be a very handy addition to Kevin Walters' forward arsenal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dragons need to convince Zac Lomax to drop his deal with the Eels and stay in the Red V. Lomax – who was granted […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":384891,"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\/384889"}],"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=384889"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384895,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384889\/revisions\/384895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/384891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=384889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=384889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=384889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}