Zac Lomax reminded everyone that he can still play centre, starring in St George Illawarra Dragons 30-12 win over the New Zealand Warriors at WIN Stadium on Friday night.
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Lomax was moved into his preferred spot of centre for the clash to replace HIA ruled-out Jack Bird, with Christian Tuipulotu making his debut for the club on the wing.
The Parramatta-bound Lomax was a rock in defence and attack, capping his fine performance with a trademark try after flying through to catch a Ben Hunt bomb in the opening minutes of the second half to see the Dragons go to a 22-6.
In the dying stages of the first half Lomax slotted a two-point field goal to guide the Dragons to a 16-6 halftime lead.
He finished with 14 points for the match but was unlucky not to have another four points after he scored a second try but it was waved away, with referee ruling Lomax received a forward pass from Raymond Faitala-Mariner.
The Dragons fourth win of the season was built on perhaps their best half of football in the opening 40 minutes where they led 16-6 against the Warriors despite the visitors dominating the opening 20 minutes in Wollongong.
The New Zealand Warriors made the most of the strong wind at their backs early on and led 6-0 after Shaun Johnson waltzed over for a try from close range in the 11th minute
Despite seeing little of the ball, running into a stiff first-half breeze and having to make 20 tackles more than the Warrriors, the Dragons found themselves leading 8-6 after 30 minutes courtesy of tries to Mosese Suli and Mikaele Ravalawa.
Then Dragons captain Ben Hunt left three defenders, Te Maire Martin, Wade Egan and Charnz Nicoll-Klokstad, in his wake to cross for St George Illawarra's third try in 12 minutes, the home team extended their lead to eight points.
They would add another two points when Lomax slotted over a two-point field goal in the dying stages of the half much to the pleasure of the boisterous Wollongong crowd of 13,111 spectators.
Tyrell Sloan also ran 90 metres to score one of the Dragons five tries for the night.
A late try to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak in the corner led to some late nerves but the Dragons defended well, as they did throughout the game.
Dragons latest signing Fa'amanu Brown also did well to play 18 minutes, despite only arriving at the club earlier in the week.
More to come.