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Jonny Lomax

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Not to be confused with John Lomax (rugby league).

Jonny Lomax
Personal information
Full nameJonathan Lomax[1]
Born (1990-09-04) 4 September 1990 (age 34)
Billinge, Wigan, England
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)}[2]
Weight13 st 12 lb (88 kg)[2]
Playing information
PositionStand-off, Scrum-half, Fullback, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009– St Helens 350 138 119 4 811
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–21 England 11 0 0 0 0
2019 Great Britain 4 0 0 0 0
Source: [3][4]
As of 10 October 2024

Jonathan Lomax (born 4 September 1990) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays for St Helens in the Super League,[3][4] and England and Great Britain at international level. A versatile player, Lomax is primarily a stand-off but is equally comfortable at both scrum-half and fullback, and featured more regularly on the wing in the early stages of his professional career.

Early life

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Lomax was born in Billinge, Lancashire, England on 4 September 1990.

He played as a junior for Orrell St James, where he captained the side for some years, playing in his preferred stand-off position. He attended Rainford High Technology College in St Helens during his high school years. Lomax was injured quite seriously during a Year 9 Powergen Cup (Schools National Cup) quarter-final match, whereby he and an opposing player were both knocked unconscious in a collision. After regaining consciousness, he began vomiting and was taken to hospital, where he had to undergo emergency open skull surgery in order to relieve the pressure on his brain. Since then, Lomax has been synonymous with a protective headgear that he still wears in his professional career as a message to other youth players of the dangers of head injuries.[5]

After his accident, Lomax continued his amateur career with Orrell and signed for St Helens professionally as a sixteen-year-old in 2006, after being on their books as a scholarship player previously.[citation needed]

St Helens

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Lomax made his first-team début for St. Helens in 2009's Super League XIV game against Wakefield Trinity in 2009, where he helped them to an easy 42–18 win.[6] Following his début, he played and scored in the 66–6 Challenge Cup victory over Gateshead again playing on the wing in a man-of-the-match performance.[7] He notched the first try of his Super League career in a 30–6 win over Hull F.C. whilst playing on the right wing in June.[8] He took his try tally to three in four games for the Saints against Castleford, where he was again named man-of-the-match in a 50–10 win.[9] After a spell in the reserves, he played in the 40–26 victory against Warrington where he came off the bench to play in a dummy-half role.[10] He featured, albeit in a brief spell, for a second time in the season against Wakefield Trinity in a shock 22–20 loss. He was injured during this match and was out of action for 6 weeks.[11] On his return, he played in a left Centre role in a 12–10 win over Huddersfield.[12] He once again featured at full-back in the 24–12 end-of-regular-season loss to Catalans Dragons, where he kicked two goals from as many attempts.[13] Lomax did not feature for St Helens in the end-of-season play-offs, which culminated in a third Grand Final loss to Leeds.

Lomax's opportunities in the first team continued in 2010, with his first game of the season coming in a 38–6 win at Bradford Bulls in round 2 of 2010's Super League XV, where he featured on the right wing in place of the injured Ade Gardner.[14] It was this Gardner injury that meant Lomax notched his maiden brace of tries in first-grade football, when he scored twice in a 42–12 win at Catalans Dragons.[15] Lomax's form was looking threatening in this spell, and he took his tally to three in four games with a score in the 22–16 home victory over the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in the round 4 game.[16] However, in the round 5 defeat by Hull Kingston Rovers,[17] not only did Lomax's run of tries end, but his in the first team ended with a shoulder injury that meant he missed 6 weeks of action, which was ironically subsided by Gardners' return from his particular injury.[18] On return, he played wing in a 42–34 loss away to Salford,[19] and fullback, in a 68–12 win over Rovers, scoring one try and kicking three goals.[20] His first appearance in the 2010 Challenge Cup came in the quarter-final 32–12 win over Barrow, where Lomax continued his try-scoring form and run as chief goal kicker with one try and three goals from five attempts.[21] He shifted back to the wing for a 27–26 loss at Hull, where Lomax kicked three out of five again.[22] He missed the next two matches due to injury, but kicked nine out of ten goals in a return at home to Salford, where he was on the winning side in a 58–34 success,[23] and scored one try and kicked four goals in a 28–24 loss to Leeds.[24] He kicked two goals in a 20–30 loss to Catalans Dragons,[25] and four goals in a 32–18 win over Harlequins the week later.[26] Lomax continued his run in the St Helens first team and played on the wing in their 2010 Super League Grand Final defeat by Wigan.

Lomax warming up for England in 2016

Lomax enjoyed a breakthrough 2011 season, forming a makeshift halfback partnership with fellow youngster Lee Gaskell that saw St Helens reach another Grand Final, however they were unsuccessful, once again beaten by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.[27][28]

Lomax was handed the No. 7 jersey in 2012 as a result and enjoyed another good season, scoring 14 tries as the club's first-choice scrum-half, however Saints' run of successive Grand Final appearances came to an end as they were beaten by Warrington in the qualifying semi-final.

In 2013, Lomax was moved to the fullback position by coach Nathan Brown, and played 19 times, scoring 12 tries and kicking 25 goals as St Helens once again narrowly missed out on a Grand Final appearance. In 2014 Lomax played in the first 13 matches for St Helens before being ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering a severe knee injury in a 42–0 defeat against Catalans Dragons. Prior to this, his form at fullback had seen him earn a call up to the England squad for their mid-season training camp.[29] As a result of his injury, Lomax missed St Helens' 2014 Super League Grand Final victory.

Lomax returned at the start of the 2015 season, but lasted only four games before injuring the same knee, once again ruling him out for the entire season.[30] His continued absence, along with the retirement through injury of Lance Hohaia and Paul Wellens, forced St Helens to bring in several short-term replacements, including Shannon McDonnell and Adam Quinlan.[31]

He played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.[32]

He played in the 2019 Super League Grand Final victory over the Salford Red Devils at Old Trafford.[33][34][35]

Lomax played in the club's 8-4 2020 Super League Grand Final victory over Wigan at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull.[36]

On 17 July 2021, Lomax played for St. Helens in their 26-12 2021 Challenge Cup Final victory over Castleford.[37] On 9 October 2021, Lomax played for St. Helens in their 2021 Super League Grand Final victory over Catalans Dragons. Lomax set up the winning try in the second half of the final after he put a short kick through for teammate Kevin Naiqama to score.[38] In round 18 of the 2022 Super League season, Lomax scored the winning try for St Helens with only one minute remaining as the club defeated Wigan 20-18 at Magic Weekend.[39] On 24 September 2022, Lomax played in St Helens 2022 Super League Grand Final victory over Leeds and was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man of the match.[40] On 18 February 2023, Lomax played in St Helens 13-12 upset victory over Penrith in the 2023 World Club Challenge.[41] Lomax played 29 games for St Helens in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished third on the table. Lomax played in St Helens narrow loss against the Catalans Dragons in the semi-final which ended St Helens four-year dominance of the competition.[42] In round 9 of the 2024 Super League season, Lomax kicked the winning drop goal for St Helens as they won 13-12 over Huddersfield with less than a minute remaining.[43] Lomax played 22 matches for St Helens in the 2024 Super League season which saw the club finish sixth on the table. He played in St Helens golden point extra-time playoff loss against Warrington.[44]

International career

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Lomax was selected in England's 24-man squad for the 2016 Four Nations. He made his international début in a test match against France.

In October 2017 he was selected in the England squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.[45]

He was selected in squad for the 2019 Great Britain Lions tour of the Southern Hemisphere.[46] He made his Great Britain test debut in the defeat by Tonga.[47]

References

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  1. ^ Companies House
  2. ^ a b "Meet the Teams First Team Players". web page. Saints RFC. 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ "BBC Rugby League podcast - The Jonny Lomax Story".
  6. ^ "Saints 42–18 Wakefield". saintsrlfc.com. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  7. ^ "Saints 66–6 Gateshead". saintsrlfc.com. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  8. ^ "Saints 30–6 Hull FC". saintsrlfc.com. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  9. ^ "Saints 50–10 Castleford". saintsrlfc.com. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  10. ^ "Saints 40–26 Warrington". saintsrlfc.com. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
  11. ^ "Saints 20–22 Wakefield". saintsrlfc.com. 19 July 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  12. ^ "Saints 12–10 Huddersfield". saintsrlfc.com. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  13. ^ "Saints 12–24 Catalans". saintsrlfc.com. 11 September 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  14. ^ "Saints 38–6 Bradford". saintsrlfc.com. 15 February 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  15. ^ "Saints 42–12 Catalans". saintsrlfc.com. 20 February 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  16. ^ "Saints 22–16 Wakefield". superleague.co.uk. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  17. ^ "Saints 24–28 Hull KR". superleague.co.uk. 7 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  18. ^ "Wellens out of Crusaders clash". superleague.co.uk. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  19. ^ "Saints 34–42 Salford City Reds". superleague.co.uk. 15 May 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  20. ^ "Saints 68–12 Hull KR". superleague.co.uk. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  21. ^ "Saints Into Final Four". saintsrlfc.com. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
  22. ^ "Saints 26–27 Hull FC". superleague.co.uk. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  23. ^ "Wellens Grabs Four As Saints Win Again". saintsrlfc.com. 25 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  24. ^ "Saints 24–28 Leeds". superleague.co.uk. 3 July 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  25. ^ "Saints 20–30 Catalans". saintsrlfc.com. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  26. ^ "Saints 32–18 Harlequins". superleague.co.uk. 18 July 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  27. ^ "Leeds claim Grand Final glory as inspired Rob Burrow sinks St Helens". Guardian. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  28. ^ "St Helens 16 Leeds 32". Daily Telegraph. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  29. ^ "St Helens full-back Jonny Lomax ruled out for season with knee injury". the Guardian. 17 June 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  30. ^ [Lomax facing lengthy injury lay-off http://www.sthelensreporter.co.uk/sport/saints/lomax-facing-lengthy-injury-lay-off-1-7158297]
  31. ^ "Adam Quinlan joins St Helens from Parramatta amid full-back crisis". the Guardian. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  32. ^ "St Helens 4–18 Warrington RESULT: Challenge Cup Final as it happened from Wembley". Daily Mirror. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  33. ^ "St Helens give Justin Holbrook the perfect send-off with commanding Grand Final victory over Salford". The Daily Telegraph. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  34. ^ Unwin, Will (12 October 2019). "St Helens 23–6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  35. ^ "St Helens win 2019 Super League League Leaders' shield". Sky Sports.
  36. ^ "Super League Grand Final: Wigan 4-8 St Helens". BBC Sport.
  37. ^ "How St Helens players have celebrated their first Challenge Cup win in 13 years". www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  38. ^ "Super League Grand Final: Catalans Dragons 10-12 St Helens: Saints win three in a row". BBC Sport.
  39. ^ "Saints, Toulouse and Leeds all win on Magic Weekend". www.skysports.com.
  40. ^ Bower, Aaron (24 September 2022). "St Helens sink Leeds to win record fourth consecutive Grand Final". The Observer.
  41. ^ "St Helens stun Penrith to win World Club Challenge". BBC Sport.
  42. ^ "Paul Wellens Q&A: Saints review of year and a look to 2024". www.sthelensstar.co.uk. 14 October 2023.
  43. ^ "Jonny Lomax wins it for St Helens to break Huddersfield Giants' hearts". www.skysports.com.
  44. ^ "'Soul destroying': Warrington eliminate St Helens in golden drop goal thriller". www.theguardian.com.
  45. ^ "England rugby league World Cup squad revealed – and James Roby is back in the fold". Daily Mirror. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  46. ^ "Zak Hardaker shock inclusion in 24-man Great Britain squad for tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea". The Daily Telegraph. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  47. ^ "Great Britain left bruised at Tonga party". The Times. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
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