One of the few willing to openly address the elephant in the room at the club, Hunt can understand Lomax's predicament better than most, with his own future in Wollongong the most talked about issue surrounding the Dragons last season.

It came after Hunt made clear his own desire to leave the club and return to Queensland, something Shane Flanagan was quick to nip in the bud when when he stepped into the head coaching role.

The 33-year-old skipper is now seemingly on board with a new era at the club, but it hasn't spared Flanagan all headaches, with Lomax reportedly unhappy with shifting to the wing this season despite turning strong performances in his first two outings on the right flank.

The 24-year-old has two years to run on a lucrative long-term deal worth in the vicinity of $800,000 a season, but rival clubs are aware of the potential discontent, with Parramatta reportedly willing to accommodate Lomax immediately.

Flanagan has ruled out releasing Lomax before the end of the season, but there have also been whispers the Roosters are interested in his services for next season given the looming departure of centre paring Joey Manu and Joseph Sua'ali'i.

With the Dragons also interested in off-contract Wallabies star Jordan Petaia for 2025, the uncertainty over Lomax's future looks set to continue.

It's an issue that continues bubbling along but, having gone through his own long-running saga, Hunt is confident it won't derail the season for Lomax or the club.

"Zac and I talk quite a bit and, if he is unhappy, he's not really showing it," Hunt said.

"I'm aware that he does want to leave, but he's not showing that he's unhappy. He's getting around the place with energy, it seems like he's enjoying himself, to me anyway.

"He's playing really good footy. I think he's been our best player the last two weeks. I can't fault either of his games, he definitely wasn't the reason we lost against Redcliffe [on Sunday].

"He had no part in that, he was one of our best up there. Whether he likes the position or not, he's doing a bloody good job of it.

"Whenever he wants some advice, he knows that I'm always happy to give it. He's very open Zac and he'll always ask for something if he needs it. I'm there if he wants it."

Hunt's desire to leave arose out of the sacking of Anthony Griffin last year, but came amid broader concerns about the overall direction of the club to which he's signed until the end of 2025.

He's been on board with the rejuvenation under Flanagan that got off to a flyer with a 28-4 win over the Titans in round one before crashing back to earth with a 38-0 defeat to the Dolphins last week.

While he admits it has proved a serving of "humble pie" Hunt says it hasn't given him cause to doubt the club's new direction under Flanagan.

"[Doubt] always pops up in the back of your head whenever you have a loss," Hunt said.

"It always tries to creep in, but I'm staying positive. I know we've done a lot of work in the preseason to be a better side. I think we are better than what we dished up there against Redcliffe.

"I know there was a lot of outside noise last week about how well we went in round one and that things might be turned around, but there was a part of me that knew we still had a long way to go.

"I definitely didn't see that game against the Dolphins coming, that's for sure, but there was definitely part of me that knew it wasn't just going to be smooth sailing. I also know that it's not the end of the world when this does happen. You can't let it define your season.

"I've put my head down in the preseason, tried to stay quiet and work hard and try to get us back on track. I felt like we were doing that. We obviously had a big hiccup on the weekend but my focus is getting us back into the finals."

A dejected Flanagan questioned his side's energy and commitment following the defeat just a week after both proved vital in seeing off a fast start from the Titans to overwhelm them late.

Hunt's played enough football under Wayne Bennett to have expected a reaction from the Dolphins following a poor first-up display, but conceded his side didn't rise to match it.

"I think the Dolphins just wanted it more," Hunt said.

"I've been under Wayne for a few years and I know how he coaches. They had a rough start round one, they weren't really good, and he would have got them pretty tuned up that week.

"He would have been right into them and they were ready to go.

"When you look at that game compared to round one, we spent a lot of energy in the in the first half of round one, but we still had the energy to come out in the second half and run hard and do all the things we need to do. We just didn't do that against Redcliffe.

"They ran harder, they tackled harder and just played the game a lot cleaner than we did. I think they only made three or four errors and we made around 12. We just didn't respect the ball enough and they were good.

"It wasn't a big spray [From Flanagan], it was more of a 'dad that was disappointed in you' sort of chat.

"We all knew that it was bad, I think Flanno saw that as well, that we didn't need that big spray we needed a calm voice to tell us what was going wrong and to get our review and have a look at it."