'We're a team within a team: Lomax lifts lid on selfless act that sealed victory in Origin I
Zac Lomax has opened up about the selfless act that went a long way to helping NSW win game one – and ensured he was voted man of the match by his Blues teammates.
Brian To'o's sin-binning on the brink of half-time at Suncorp Stadium, for tackling Xavier Coates in the air, left NSW needing to survive the opening ten minutes of the second half defending with 12 men.
Lomax had watched the Maroons send all their attacking kicks to Coates's side of the field, where the towering Maroons winger enjoyed a hefty height advantage over To'o, and knew they would continue to attack down that flank when the game restarted.
As revealed by colleague Roy Masters the day after the 18-6 win at Suncorp Stadium, Lomax approached Laurie Daley during the interval and volunteered to switch from the right side of the field to defend on the left while To'o was in the bin.
Lomax was confident the NSW right edge would cope, because Nathan Cleary, Liam Martin and Stephen Crichton 'had defended together forever' in clubland, and suggested he would be of better use switching over and helping out Latrell Mitchell try and stop Coates.
The Maroons scored a try while To'o was in the bin, but it came from a Mitchell error rather than any luck attacking with the extra player.
The foresight and maturity shown by Lomax was praised by Daley – and yet another example of how quickly the Parramatta recruit has adjusted to life in the representative arena within 12 months.
As he joined his Blues teammates in camp in the Blue Mountains on Tuesday, Lomax opened up on the Origin I half-time conversations with the coaches.
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