HE'S offered expletive-riddled impersonations of Anthony Griffin, but star centre Zac Lomax was the first to leap to the St George Illawarra coach before Sunday's desperate showdown with Newcastle.
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Griffin has been under fire this season for their spluttering 1-4 start, the decision to grant his contract extension before round one and the decision to axe young guns like fullback Tyrell Sloan and five-eighth Talatau Amone.
But while Lomax appeared with Blake Lawrie on Fox's Bryan Fletcher and Nathan Hindmarsh, dishing out his best sweary half-time talk impression of him, the 22-year-old maintains Griffin's 'straight-shooting' ways will reap rewards this year.
"He's a straight-shooter, that's for sure," Lomax said.
"He says what he thinks and he wears his heart on his sleeve, but like it personally, I've been able to develop my game in leaps and bounds and get some confidence as well. He just dumbs it down and makes it very simple for so, I'm really enjoying being coached by him.
"In regards to his (re)signing, I think it's a good one."
Lomax said Griffin has shielded the squad from any discussion about the decision to re-sign him to the end of 2023 so early this year, under increasing pressure, as the Dragons sit only above the Bulldogs and winless Tigers on the NRL ladder.
After his television appearance, where he said he also hoped to never speak to former teammate and Canterbury fullback Matt Dufty again, Lomax admitted it gained plenty of attention amongst the Dragons camp.
"I was actually speaking to Hook (Griffin) this morning about it," he said.
"It's all fun and games, I feel if you can have a relationship like that with your coach, it goes a long.
"That just shows our club is definitely on the up and the culture here is outstanding and everyone gets on so well."
It's Griffin's simplicity in style that the Dragons have gone away from, Lomax claims, as they've slumped to four straight losses after beating the Warriors to kick off the year.
"It's obviously disappointing, but we're not too far off," he said. "We're just probably lacking a little bit of confidence there, we've probably just got to simplify a few things and play a bit more high percentage and a tougher brand of footy.
"I just feel like we've gone away from that a little bit."
Griffin has kept Moses Mbye at fullback and Jack Bird at five-eighth, with Amone and George Burgess in bench positions.
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Tim Barrow
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
