I'm sure the medical team at Saints ok'd Lomax to start the season when he did, but do you think we should have built him up somewhere on the lnes of Walsh has done this season?
Wello should have started the season with Lomax starting around Easter?

Maybe next season we need to get a player in who can cover/play full back then Lomax is in no rush to come back. (Gidley,Hampshire, Leigh's full back?)

Lets face it, Lomax is finished, even if he does return. You don't return from that many severe injuries unless you've got a lot of ability. Lomax hasn't, he's never really grown into the player his potential indicated he could be. I'd have been looking to replace him after this season even if it wasn't for his injury. He's not good enough.

We definitely need some signings in the backs. A fullback, a winger and a centre are all required, so I'd prioritise the fullback.

I think your being a tad harsh, He was one of your best players for a few seasons. Players can come back from bad injuries esp when they are young. Stevie Ward had two shoulder recon's came back and has been an animal this season, Before that JJB had two major injuries when young he came back and look how is career has panned out.

It is possible to return from two cruciate ligament repairs. But if your game is primarily based upon agility the only way back is as a radically altered player.

Full-back is out of the question. Ditto any of the outside back positions. Lomax has never been a playmaker so the halves are ruled out as well. I don't even think he could make it as a loose forward.

Talk about kicking a man while he's down! Jesus!

I think lomax can come back from this. He's very talented and still a young lad. He was our danger man for two seasons and one of our biggest threats with the ball.

People like you have been writing this kid off for years. They said he might never play again when he had serious injury but he comeback.

I hope he comes back stronger and shows you how good he is. Have you lost your saints tinted glasses today ?


Edit - never been a playmaker ? No wonder, he was 19yrs old playing with another 19yr old halfback! Jesus! Give the lad some slack!

It'll be interesting to see if he has any mobility when he does return. This return he looked sluggish, like there was no spring in his step. He was never that blessed with pace, but definitely stepped down a notch or two when he returned this season. He's not a player that could go the length if you put him through the line, any more affect on his speed or mobility would leave him in Wello territory and without the all round skills Wello honed when he played fullback for so long without any pace to rely on.

He hadnt played since June, he's not exactly going to be in tip top shape.

Injuries aside, he would need to improve on his defence if he could have the instinct on how Wello reads the game he still has a future.
He doesn,t need to run the length of the field, he has a very good step off each foot, we've had quite a few players with injuries that look career ending but have bounced back.
I don't think he is in the "Wheeler Mould", Lomax will always be an attacking threat to the opposition and is probably still a better proposition than what we can conjure up at the moment.

If you actually bothered to read anything I post you'd know that I've consistently been one of Lomax's biggest supporters - from day one. But none of this alters the fact that the very nature of the repair, whilst making the joint stronger, significantly reduces its elasticity.

One only needed to witness the shadow of the player that was Lomax at the start of this season to draw some rather obvious conclusions about the impact of a second cruciate repair.

Tommy Martyn overcame double (triple?) cruciate surgery. Whilst his sidestep was effectively finished as an effective weapon he was fortunate to possess several other extremely valuable attributes and could therefore adjust his game.

Lomax doesn't have an equally wide skill-set. His game is primarily based on acceleration over the first fifteen meters and footwork. Both attributes will take a massive hit.

If you want to kid yourself about him returning next season as the player he was two seasons ago that's your business.

Personally I think his only option is the number nine position.



And I'd be crushed if Lomax made a miraculous recovery ... why?



Give me strength...

The problem with the number 9 option is that, while its possible to make it as a 9 if you're as small as Lomax (Higham, Aiton, Monaghan), your defence needs to be the best in the side, at or near the top of the tackle count every week.

But not only does Lomax seem a little fragile, but defence has not yet shown itself as one of his strong points.

Lomax isht exactly small. He's very muscular tbh.

I wonder if thats part of the problem. Gaining muscle is relatively easy, strengthening ligaments is not

I hope Lomax does return.
He's had tough luck with injuries and it would be good to see him over them and back on the field!

I honestly think the modern day players are so lean and muscular that it does play a part in ligament damage etc

Seems much more these days in the pro game than the was years ago

And once again we find ourselves knee deep in verbal excrement.

Why? I'm entitled to my opinion and personally I don't rate Lomax. I'm allowed to think that. He's not as good as Tomkins, Hardaker or Ratchford or Escare or Evalds.

Bit harsh, I'd have him (fully fit) over Evalds and Escare - and he was on a similar level as hardaker this time last year and has it in him to reach that level again.

Like the lad, and hope he makes it back to full fitness - but that could be by a year out of the firing line - wonder if Hayne would fancy a year in England if he doesn't make the 49ers run on squad

You'd be hard pushed to be a modern RL player and not be muscular. However, I've stood next to Lomax by a shop counter, and he was a good three or four inches shorter than me (I'm 6'0"icon_wink.gif, and while clearly a bit of a gym-bunny, he wasn't particularly massive. Amor, on the other hand (also in the shop), was a big lad.

I'm not kicking Lomax - he's been incredibly unlucky. But I have to agree with Muggers that if your whole game is based around agility and acceleration, then buggering your knees doesn't leave you with much else. I'm sorry for the guy, but perhaps our experience with Wheeler suggests that it might be better to plan a replacement now, rather than piddle away a couple more years.

I have to admit, i'm not overly sold on J-Lo. He's undoubtedly a talented rugby player, but his best position is very unclear.
His positional play isn't up to full back standards, and now with even further reduced agility i really fear for his future career. I think it would be prudent to start looking for a quality FB now as i dont think he is our long term future there. I hope he proves me wrong as he seems a real pro, but i just cant see it

Before his first knee injury, he had been one of our best players consistently over few seasons.

If you ask any supporters from other teams and pretty sure they dread Lomax getting the ball as he's a real threat.

Didn,t they do a sports injury report a few years back that fatty tissue around muscle, ligaments, tendons etc provided some form of shock absorbtion.
Todays players are athletes and with very little body fat something is going to give in such a high impact game. I think it was Wilkin who also mentioned that the torsion effect on joints during the modern tackling techniques could shorten a players career.
Its not good for the game when clubs are only able to play there first choice 13 on the pitch for around a third of the season or worse.

I think we have to differentiate the Lomax who played in the halves (still very much a rookie) and the Lomax who seemed to have matured during his early successes at full back. I do agree that he was vulnerable early in his career - particularly to players who managed to get on his outside. I'm less certain that he was ever weak as a frontal defender (which is where he's likely be tested at nine).

The one thing he has in his favour is boundless enthusiasm (and, if fit, energy) - which is precisely the kind of attribute all good hookers need from the beginning. Whether his body is up to the job - I guess we'll just have to wait and see the size of the bite those two operations have taken out of his abilities.

Tragic really because he's a nice kid. Weird how these kinds of plagues rarely appear to afflict Rugby League's villains.

Does anyone know the exact extent of his injury. Has his ligaments snapped, torn,or badly sprained. Is it the anterior or cruciate that is affected?
Is it any worse than Walsh's injury?

Ligaments are more or less always worse than a break. Walsh was a bad one as he did ankle ligaments also but 9 times out of 10 you get over a break but ligaments can end you, especially if your in the latter stage of career.

I've just come back from a broken ankle which was bad but they told me im luvky it wasn't ankle ligaments Id done.


So basically in the long term Id take walsh injury over lomax but I bet walsh hurt more at the time

Like you said, he was a rookie then, and I wonder with increased experience and ability to read a game whether he could move back into the halves in the future?