Dragons coach Anthony Griffin has defended his controversial handling of axing star centre Zac Lomax this week.
Lomax was dropped alongside Jacob Liddle and Toby Couchman and the former was furious when asked for feedback but wasn’t given any, instead told to take the week off to “clear his head”.
Griffin confirmed he didn’t explain to 23-year-old Lomax why he’d been dropped in the wake of the Dragons’ four straight loss
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“Obviously there is a lot of speculation, but my job is to be part of a team. The players need you every week. That is what I am concentrating on,’’ Griffin said.
“For Zac there are some things he needs to work on in his game. I’m not going to publicly talk about that, but for me as a coach that comes down to what I think is best for the team and for Zac long term.
“I just want him to clear his head and have a week off. And then we’ll move forward from there.’’
Griffin was directly asked if it was correct that he was yet to explain the axing to Lomax.
“That’s true — no detailed feedback for that reason (Lomax taking a week off),” he said.
“My job as a coach is to care for him, particularly at times like this. For any player who gets dropped, it’s hard.
“I do that with the utmost care on a case-by-case basis.
“I wanted Zac to have a bit of time to process it, and then we will sit down as coach and player and go through it.’
“It comes back to performances, and hopefully for his sake (he’s not out of the NRL) for too long.”
St George Illawarra face the bottom-of-the-ladder Wests Tigers on Sunday and the selection decisions have led to calls that Griffin is “panicking”, but the veteran coach brushed it off.
“Do I look like I am panicking?,’’ Griffin said with a smile.
“It’s a funny business, the NRL. It’s a brutal business.
“If I start worrying about myself or trying to figure out what someone is writing about me, then I am not doing my job.
“I’ve been a coach for a long time. We have built a really good group here. We have been close (in matches).
“It’s been extremely frustrating for us, because we know how hard everyone is working.
“We could easily be sitting here with three or four wins over the past month. But that’s rugby league, that’s the NRL.
“Any change that we make is in the best interest of the team for the long term.
“It’s not something we just flippantly think if we do this it might work. It’s calculated and measured for everyone’s benefit.’’
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