Born: 21 September, 1970 – Wellington Test record: 2 Tests (1993) – 0 points Tours: 1993 tour of Great Britain and France
David Lomax emerged from the shadow of his older brother and Wainuiomata and Wellington teammate, firebrand prop John, to join him on the Kiwis’ 1993 tour of Britain and France, and carve out a professional career that encompassed stints at five top-flight clubs in the Australian premierhsp and European Super League.
The four Lomax brothers – John, David, Tony and Arnold – played together for Wellington and won a national club grand final with Wainuiomata in 1992.
John shot to wider prominence after being signed by Canberra Raiders in 1993, but David represented New Zealand Māori and won the Colin O’Neil Best and Fairest award for his efforts in the Wellington premier grade before joining his Test forward sibling on the plane to Britain with the Kiwis at the end of the year.
Equally at home at prop or in the back-row, the 23-year-old debuted in the second match of the tour against Bradford Northern as the Lomax brother become the 25th set of siblings to represent the Kiwis. After performing strongly in minor tour matches, David joined John on the New Zealand bench for the third Test against Great Britain as a replacement for the injured Gary Mercer. The Kiwis went down 29-10 as the hosts completed an emphatic cleansweep.
The younger Lomax was retained on the interchange for the one-off Test victory over France in Carcassonne.
David was snapped up by the Raiders for 1994, playing three first-grade matches for the star-studded eventual champs. After receiving just one chance in the top grade in 1995, he joined Western Reds but could only manage one appearance and headed to France, becoming a permanent fixture in the Paris St Germain pack in the 1997 Super League season.
That strong campaign piqued the interest of Newcastle Knights and he played 29 NRL games for the club in 1998-99, including all three of their finals matches during those seasons. Lomax returned to Super League, where he was a shining light for battlers Huddersfield in 2000-01.
Lomax later moved into the coaching ranks, guiding Central Falcons in the Bartercard Cup and New Zealand Residents in 2006. He was shortlisted for the Kiwis role in 2007 before returning to Wellington, where he coached Te Aroha Eels and Porirua Vikings at club level and the provincial team in the NZRL National Competition.