TEMORA'S quest to make finals for the first time in a decade continues to gather steam after the club confirmed former junior Hayden Lomax has signed for next season.
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The 23-year old, the older brother of NRL star centre Zac, has spent the past few years in the lower grades at St George Illawarra and will add more creativity and toughness to Temora's set-up.
Lomax was named St George Illawarra's SG Ball player of the year in 2016 and played two seasons with their under-20s.
He played 13 of his 17 NSW Cup matches this year, primarily at hooker or off the bench.
Temora's 'spine' is shaping as one of the strongest in the competition. X-factor Sam Elwin is set to return from a knee injury and reunite with coach Josh McCrone in the halves, while Hamish Starr was a standout at fullback last year.
The club is hopeful of retaining hooker Jayden Bourke, which could give them the luxury of playing Lomax at lock.
McCrone said Lomax's signing was part of a focus to bring more club products back to the fold to play in Group Nine.
"It's massive for us as a club. we're trying to get guys who have played through our juniors to come back and play senior footy for us," he said.
"We'll play him somewhere in the middle there. We haven't nailed down exactly what we'll have for next year just yet but lock or hooker (is most likely).
"Jayden Bourke played hooker last year and we're hopeful we'll still play, but we'll get all our players together and see what works best.
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"He's not real big but he's tough and he hasn't been getting much of a run at the Dragons. His size probably didn't help him, and you need a bit of luck and people to have confidence in you."
McCrone said the club is still in talks with a couple more homegrown products who have expressed initial interest in returning as they look to address a player depth issue.
"There's a couple who have played here previously that are half keen to come back. Hopefully we get them over the line, and nabbing one or two more would be ideal," he said.
"The biggest problem we had last year was lack of depth, not so much quality of players but lack of numbers.
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