{"id":409958,"date":"2026-01-13T10:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T10:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/409958\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T10:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T10:55:14","slug":"its-all-about-the-c-word-expert-reveals-how-storm-can-still-land-zac-lomax-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/409958\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s all about the C-word\u2019: Expert reveals how Storm can still land Zac Lomax for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Wests Tigers<\/a> Chairman and leading workplace lawyer Lee Hagipantelis has shed light on the ways Melbourne Storm<\/a> may yet be able to sign released Parramatta and NSW star Zac Lomax for the 2026 NRL season, despite the Eels<\/a> having rejected Melbourne\u2019s initial request.<\/p>\n

Speaking on SEN radio, Hagipantelis suggested that in his experience the courts would likely be reluctant to overrule the terms of Lomax\u2019s conditional release to leave Parramatta at the end of the 2025 season, despite Lomax\u2019s circumstances having now changed with the two-year delay of rebel R360 competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe release between Parramatta and the player (Lomax) is a contract which was negotiated in good faith, and Zac entered into that contract with eyes wide open,\u201d Hagipantelis said.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSo the question is now, can he get out of that contract and if so, how?\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0R360 boss\u2019 startling revelation about NRL player recruitment<\/a><\/p>\n

Hagipantelis said Lomax may consider seeking to have the contract voided as an unlawful restraint of trade, however given Parramatta is a direct NRL competitor of the Melbourne Storm he suggested that would be difficult to prove.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe courts are very cautious about applying those kinds of principles to allow a player to revoke contract just because they\u2019ve made a bad deal and circumstances have changed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Zac is up against it and the only way it\u2019s going to be done in my view is by a negotiated settlement between him, Melbourne Storm and Parramatta.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018What\u2019s in it for Parramatta?\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Discussing what the most likely course of action would now be in the lead-up to the 2026 NRL season, Hagipantelis said it will all come down one word.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about the C-word\u2014compensation, what\u2019s in it for Parramatta?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiving up a player, a cash settlement from Melbourne or Zac, or both, it\u2019s got to be something for Parramatta to think they\u2019ve achieved a desirable outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where it\u2019s going to end I suspect, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to see the inside of a courtroom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Wests Tigers Chairman and leading workplace lawyer Lee Hagipantelis has shed light on the ways Melbourne Storm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-409958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}