Lomax's performances on the wing over the opening two rounds have been impressive enough to catch the eye of new NSW coach Michael Maguire, but Dragons skipper Ben Hunt is among those to have confirmed the 24-year-old still wants to leave the club.

The Eels and the Roosters are reportedly among the suitors, but Flanagan has ruled out releasing Lomax this season, though conjecture remains over the remaining two years of his lucrative deal with the Dragons.

Lomax had spent large chunks of the preseason at fullback as Flanagan considered a fullback tag-team with Tyrell Sloan, something he previously implemented at the Sharks with Ben Barba and, firstly Michael Gordon, and later Valentine Holmes.

While he's certain Lomax will feature at centre and fullback at some stage this year, Flanagan said at this stage only injuries will open the door for a positional switch.

"[It'd be] more so injuries, because it's a tough game these days," Flanagan said.

"Zac hasn't played a lot of wing and Tyrell is at the start his career so I just don't want to complicate it [by switching in games].

"When I did it previously with Michael Gordon, he was a 10-year NRL player and Benny Barba was one of the smarter fullbacks that we've ever had and a Dally M winner.

"I was dealing with some players that had a lot more experience and could do it quite easily.

"Down the track we might do it a little bit more, later this year or further on, but we are going to have injuries in our squad and Zac has that versatility.

"I wouldn't have put him [on the wing] if I didn't think he could do the job. He can play centre, he can play fullback. Ask Zac, he can play any position on the footy field. That's the sort of kid he is, he's confident, but at the moment he's doing a really good job.

"His skill set, for me at the moment is suited for our wing, but at some stage this year, he's going to play centre, he's probably going to play fullback as well, so it's great to have him in our team.

"We are going to have injuries within our squad and Zac has that versatility."

Lomax's effort over the opening two rounds has been big enough that he sat out Friday's captain's run as a load management measure - with Christian Tuipulotu running on the right wing - but Flanagan said his centre-cum-winger hasn't appeared affected by external discussions over his future.

"There definitely hasn't been any noise here, Zac has trained really well," Flanagan said.

"He's just had a big couple of weeks in his [running] load so we didn't want to run him again today.

"It hasn't been a distraction for the playing group. Whether it's a distraction to Zac, I'm not quite sure, but he hasn't shown it in his performances.

"It's a challenge that we need to deal with, every club deals with them, players moving on, changing clubs or so on, but at this stage he's done a really good job.

"I don't know if he's enjoying life [on the wing], but Zac is one of those footy players that gets out there and just rips in and plays his game.

"I think everyone likes getting praise when they play good football, it's always better than the alternative. I think he's enjoying that side of things, but he's a professional, he will go out there and do his job."

It's a challenge Flanagan will put to his entire squad after making only forced changes to the side that was hammered 38-0 by the Dolphins last week, with Jesse Marschke to make his NRL debut at hooker in place of Jacob Liddle (concussion) and round one debutant Viliami Fifita recalled in place of the suspended Francis Molo.

The Dolphins defeat left Flanagan bemoaning the fact his side had "gone backwards" from an impressive first-up win over the Titans, saying his side's determined to ensure last week's effort is a "one-off."

"It was completely unexpected from my perspective and the coaching staff's perspective," Flanagan said.

"We need to turn around and we get an opportunity, which is the NRL, you get an opportunity this weekend to show what sort of team we are. We get a chance tomorrow to turn it around and show what sort of team we are.

"We've had a good review of the week. You could toss up excuses, we went to Mudgee and went to Gold Coast and then went back to Queensland, three trips three weeks in a row, but every club does that. It's not an excuse.

"The players felt good before the game, we warmed up well, there was a good attitude. We had a good week, so it's a tricky one to put your finger on it.

"Sometimes it's really hard and it's all what goes on between the players ears, it's their attitude.

"We've had a good week but the response needs to be tomorrow, so it'll be really interesting and we're looking forward to seeing that response."