Zac Lomax makes sad admission on wayward kicking in NSW's State of Origin II defeat to Queensland

7NEWS

4 hours ago

Zac Lomax concedes his goalkicking 'wasn't ideal' in the second State of Origin game but has vowed not to board any emotional rollercoaster triggered by NSW's tight loss.
NSW scored five tries to Queensland's four in Wednesday night's game but went down 26-24 as Lomax landed only two of five attempts at goal in wet and wild conditions.
Nathan Cleary's groin injury left goalkicking duties to Lomax at the 11th hour and the right winger could have pushed the Blues to an unassailable 2-0 series lead off his boot.
Instead, the result moves the series to a game three decider in Sydney on July 9, and denies NSW the chance for a first series clean sweep since 2000.
Lomax said it was important not to become weighed down after the defeat.
'Week in week out, it's a rollercoaster of emotions. I guess like the first game, everyone was singing NSW's praises and game two, we lost. That's the way it goes,' he said.
'That's why you can't buy into it too much.'
Parramatta winger Lomax said it could be easy to fall into thinking it was he alone who cost NSW the game.
In reality, the Blues conceded eight unanswered penalties and completed at only 58 per cent as they fell 26-6 down at half-time.
While critics may have pinned the loss on his kicking, Lomax said: 'It's easy to look at it that way because it (the margin) is two points and a goal is two points. For me, I pride myself on being a good goalkicker as well.
'It was not ideal. But as I said, it gives you guys (the media) something to talk about and the lead-in into game three.
'The thing is, I probably couldn't have struck them any better. They just sat out there.
'We were on the receiving end of it (defeat) but that's the way that footy goes. The best thing is we get another game, game three, and we'll be up for it.'
Before then, Lomax is predicting a harsh reception playing before St George Illawarra's home crowd for the first time since his highly publicised exit from the club.
Lomax surprised the NRL world last year by requesting a release from his Dragons deal amid career-best form that eventually yielded Australian and NSW debuts.
After weeks of build-up the Dragons relented to Lomax's request and paved the way for him to sign at Parramatta, where he has continued to excel on the wing.
A Dragon for 114 games, Lomax expects some rough treatment when he runs out at Wollongong in the Eels' blue-and-gold strip on Saturday evening.
'I'm sure I won't get a real nice reception there but that's the way that it goes,' he said after Parramatta's 36-20 defeat of Gold Coast.
'You completely try and take the emotion out of it because emotion can affect your game positively and negatively.
'For us it's learning what we did well tonight (against Gold Coast), learning things we can improve on.'