The Zac Lomax situation has left both league and union looking bad |
Neither league nor rugby covered itself in glory this week as Zac Lomax switched codes.
Some league types displayed glass jaws in response to three little words - “truly international sport” - while rugby’s red carpet treatment for the newcomer indicated that, at some level, the game still requires validation from the NRL, despite hosting a World Cup next year.
The juxtaposition of Lomax’s signing with Sid Harvey’s promotion into the Waratahs starting side against the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday - and to a lesser extent Jimmy Hendren’s return to the No.15 jersey - was unavoidable.
Somewhere in Australia, those involved in identifying and developing Harvey, 21, and Hendren, 23, likely rolled their eyes at Lomax’s recruitment. They don’t do it for the fanfare or money, but a little bit of recognition might be nice.
In fact, Lomax very much looks like a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, with rugby churning out Max Jorgensen and now Harvey and Hendren in recent years, not to mention the Pritchard brothers at the Brumbies and Reds - Kadin, the eldest, already looks like an embryonic Tevita Kuridrani Mk II, while Trayvon’s ability to keep the ball alive before he bundled into touch was pivotal to the Reds’ win in Canberra last weekend.
It could be argued that these are parallel topics, allowing rugby to develop its own while selectively and strategically recruiting NRL players, with neither affecting the other.
Zac Lomax is off to the Western Force.Credit: Ben Symons
But the subtlety of that argument can be lost when the Rugby Australia chief executive holds a press conference with Lomax, who, by his own admission, is at the bottom of the mountain when it comes to making the switch.
That statement may have been the truest words spoken all week.