'Unbelievable' rookie puts doubts on Lomax pursuit
Parramatta’s potential pursuit of wantaway Dragons star Zac Lomax might have been put to rest over the weekend after an eye-catching debut from Blaize Talagi.
The 19-year-old scored a try in his first NRL appearance, running over the top of Manly superstar Tom Trbojevic in an epic moment as the Eels scored a 28-24 victory.
Talagi finished with 10 runs for 89 metres and made four tackle breaks, while also overcoming a shaky start in defence to make 20 tackles with just three misses.
While there is plenty of room for improvement for the former Australian Schoolboys standout, head coach Brad Arthur admitted there was no surprises within the Parramatta locker room after his impressive first-up effort on Sunday afternoon.
“It was good – we got what we knew we would get from him,” Arthur said.
“He enjoyed the collision, he liked the physicality, he kept going after the game. When he got a couple of things wrong, it didn’t bother him.
“We knew we’d get all that and he’s only gonna get better with experience.
“I know Blaize is only a kid, but he was able to not let it worry him … they are a pretty hard team to defend against and he did a pretty good job.”
