Faessler on Lomax: ‘I’m sure he’s no stranger to a hostile Suncorp crowd’

Queensland Reds rake Matt Faeslseer has acknowledged “it’ll be interesting” to see how Zac Lomax fares in Super Rugby Pacific, should the former NRL star debut for the Western Force this weekend at Suncorp Stadium.

Lomax is no stranger to the venue formerly known as Lang Park, having played for the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Parramatta Eels in the NRL. The outside back also represented New South Wales in State of Origin and Australia at international level.

In the opening match of the 2025 Origin Series, Lomax scored two tries, made two linebreaks and ran for more than 205 metres in Brisbane. Having made the move across codes, Lomax could be set for a Force debut at the very same venue.

Force coach Simon Cron told reporters that Lomax is “a good chance in the next couple of weeks of getting game time.” That suggests the Perth-based side could field their marquee recruit either this weekend against the Reds or the following week away to the Fijian Drua.

“There’s been talk about that. He’s obviously a great talent in rugby league and it’ll be interesting to see how he goes if he plays against us on the weekend,” Faessler told reporters in Brisbane.

“As a Queenslander it hurts but I think he may have been part of that [State of Origin] Shield that they won up here, the decider a couple of years ago.

“I’m sure he’s no stranger to a hostile Suncorp crowd and good luck to him if he plays.”

The Force continue to search for their first win since February 27, where they got the better of Moana Pasifika 35-19 in Pukekohe. Since then, Cron’s side have fallen to the Highlanders, Hurricanes and the Chiefs.

Fullback Max Burey and captain Jeremy Williams were the try-scorers for the Force, who were level at 14-all at the 50-minute mark. But All Blacks Samisoni Taukei’aho and Damian McKenzie helped see the visitors home in an enthralling contest.

“They’ve got a heap of international players in their side,” Faessler said.

“They’ve definitely been playing better than the scoreboard has been representing so by no means are we going half-cocked into this game.

“We’re preparing as well as we can and it’s really important for us as a team that we get super excited and we want to perform well in front of our home fans.

“Home games are precious to us so we want to put our best foot forward.”

Queensland are also hoping to bounce back this weekend after a one-sided 52-14 defeat to the ladder-leading Hurricanes in Wellington. Jock Campbell and Isaac Henry crossed for a try each during the first term but the second half was one-way traffic.

Brave Blossoms captain Warner Dearns kicked off the point-scoring blitz with a determined effort in the 43^rd minute, before former All Blacks Sevens flyer Fehi Fineanganofo continued his impressive try-scoring form – finishing with a hat-trick.

“I think footy is one of those ones, you don’t want to ride the highs too high or the lows too low,” he added.

“The Hurricanes are obviously the form team in the competition, playing them away is probably the one of the toughest places to play.

“I don’t think we’re soul-searching. We just reviewed, taken our lessons from that game and potential areas we can improve and look forward to hosting the Force at Suncorp on the weekend which is exciting as.”