Lomax’s future was a hot topic at the NRL’s season launch at Mrs Macquaries Chair on Tuesday.
“I played for Australia with him a couple of years ago. He’s a great character, Zac, a really good guy, and a really good player as well,” said Storm captain Harry Grant.
Bring on 2026: NRL players gather for the season launch at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair on Tuesday.Credit: Louise Kennerley
“I love the fact that our club is always looking to improve, always looking to get better. Obviously, Zac fits that mould for sure. But at the end of the day, it’s out of my control. All I can do is hope that Zac is doing OK with it all. I hope he’s got the right support around him at the moment and, fingers crossed, we can see him back in the game.”
The potential consequences of flirting with R360 were laid bare last year when the Australian Rugby League Commission warned it would impose 10-year bans on players who committed to the proposed global rugby roadshow.
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has since said Lomax would not be subjected to such a penalty and the NRL would register a new contract for him.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo had a similar message on Tuesday.
“I want the best athletes in the world playing in the NRL and NRLW competition, full stop,” Abdo said. “It all has to happen within our rules and clearly there are now discussions happening between Zac and the Eels. That’s the subject of a court case and I don’t want to talk to specifics.
“But our blanket statement, as the CEO of the game, we want the best athletes coming and playing our sport.”
That is welcome news for Melbourne and Grant.
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“At the end of the day, we’ve got a short career,” Grant said. “And you don’t want to miss out on these opportunities. I think anyone in our league – you’ve got a limited time to play, limited time to be an athlete – sometimes opportunities come up. I don’t want to see anyone rubbed out of the game [and] miss those opportunities to maximise their potential.”
While Craig Bellamy’s side are eager to have Lomax on board, Parramatta have put their former teammate behind them.
“He made his decision after the season that he wasn’t going to be with us, so we’ve just moved on, I guess,” captain Mitchell Moses said.
“Definitely as a playing group we’ve moved on and we haven’t thought about it. He hasn’t done one training session with us, so we’ve moved on. It just gives another one of these other boys an opportunity to come in, take a jersey, and come into what we’re trying to do.”
Moses said he was glad the club was standing up for itself on the issue.
“I’ll back the club in whatever they do, whatever decision they make,” he said. “They’ve got our full support as a playing group, whatever they do, we’ll back them. It’s out of our control.”
A hearing in Parramatta’s case against Lomax has been pushed back until March 2, just three days before Melbourne begin their season against the Eels at AAMI Park.