Uber talented Dragons centre Zac Lomax admits he didn't see his promotion to right centre coming this Sunday against the Eels at Bankwest Stadium.
The 19-year-old was about to depart training on Tuesday when Paul McGregor passed on the news that he would be taking Euan Aitken's No.3 jersey, with the incumbent dropped to the bench.
Lomax, who began the year in reserve grade, earned the gig after a strong Anzac Day display on the flank versus the Roosters plus his valuable goal-kicking prowess.
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It seemed to most only a matter of time before Lomax forced his way into the centres, where he shone during last year's finals series when Aitken was injured, but the man himself was a little shocked.
"I wasn't expecting it. The coach told me yesterday as I was leaving training, he just sort of said, 'Good luck mate'," Lomax said.
"Hopefully on the weekend I can go out there and put a good performance together."
Prior to his elevation into the run-on team as a winger last week, Lomax had played from the interchange in his three other NRL appearances in 2019.
He never received more than nine minutes as a super sub, only getting on the field in the dying stages.
In one match against Manly, he was named on the interchange but sat on the sideline for the entire fixture.
The assured Temora junior conceded the utility role was strange at times, especially when he was injected at lock among the big forwards, but he learned from the experience.
"I guess it was sort of a different situation that I was put in and I had a role to play in the team and that was to come on and just be ready to go whenever," Lomax said,
"But, you know, it was sort of a different situation to be thrown in there in the middle in different situations.
"It was a bit of a funny one, but it was something that I really took a lot out of and a lot of confidence that I could take from those performances."
After Sydney snapped the Dragons' four-match winning streak, Parramatta present a difficult challenge for St George Illawarra at the freshly-built, state-of-the-art Bankwest Stadium.
The Eels have every reason to be fired up, too, having lost to Newcastle over the weekend, failing to replicate their 51-6 demolition of the Tigers the round earlier.
Lomax said St George Illawarra are expecting Parramatta to feed off their home crowd's energy and rise a few levels.
"Obviously it's going to be packed out at that new stadium there. The Eels have come off the back of a couple real big wins," Lomax said.
"They're going to be going into the game with a lot of confidence but I'm really confident that we can put a good performance together as a team.
"... I know the coaching staff are really confident in our ability to be able to go out there and perform as well.
"We know exactly what we've got to do at the start of our games and we know we've got to be better starting the game."
On a personal note, Lomax will lock horns with a red-hot Michael Jennings, the 265-match veteran in sizzling touch with six tries from as many appearances this year.
To counter the 31-year-old, Lomax will be studying up on his experienced opponent in the lead-up to kick-off.
"Obviously Michael Jennings is a great of the game and he's been around the traps for a long time now. He's won some premierships and played for our country as well," Lomax said.
"He's not going to be an easy person to mark up against, so I'll say I'll be doing a lot of review this week."