The New South Wales Blues took an enormous risk in attempting to lock the scoreline of State of Origin Game 3 with a sideline penalty goal on Wednesday evening, but Michael Maguire's reasoning was simple:
"Well, I back Zac," the coach said when quizzed during his post-match press conference.
Despite passing up on an easier attempt that would have opened the scoring before halftime in what was one of the most brutal Origin games in recent memory, a Queensland penalty goal shortly before halftime changed the Blues' approach after the break.
Receiving a penalty near the sideline, the Blues elected to take the shot at penalty goal, with Lomax stepping up to do the job.
Maguire revealed Lomax had been talking about his goal kicking at the captain's run when the side questioned what they'd need to do to win, and that it was imperative to get the scoreboard ticking over.
"He has faced a fair bit earlier on in the season and look at how he is going now. He talked about his goal kicking yesterday at the captain's run. It's amazing how he talked about it, probably visualised being able to do that himself," Maguire said.
"To kick from the sideline the way he did, it kept the scoreboard ticking over. We could have played on, but I have a lot of confidence in Zac in the way he is kicking, so we kept the scoreboard ticking,"
Lomax stepped up to slot the penalty goal, locking the game at two points a piece. Queensland would kick a second penalty goal to move back ahead, but two tries in the final 20 minutes to NSW centre Bradman Best and halfback Mitchell Moses would ultimately ensure a historic victory for the Blues, which was just their third in a decider played in Queensland.
