{"id":413794,"date":"2026-01-15T03:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T03:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/413794\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T03:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T03:54:08","slug":"clubs-express-concern-over-potential-lomax-deal-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/413794\/","title":{"rendered":"Clubs express concern over potential Lomax deal – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former NRL<\/a> star Zac Lomax<\/a> remains in limbo over his future, with the released Parramatta Eels<\/a> outside back preparing to launch action against the club in a bid to take up a deal with the Melbourne Storm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The State of Origin<\/a> winger was released at the end of the 2025 season with the likliehood that he was set to take up a deal in R360 – the Saudi Arabian backed competition promising players payments in the seven figures.<\/p>\n

That eventually was postponed until 2028 though, with Lomax instead left without a contract for the new year.<\/p>\n

He has been in talks with Australian rugby union clubs, but it’s also understood the Melbourne Storm<\/a> are interested in his services, per multiple reports.<\/p>\n

The outside back has not been able to take up a deal though given a clause in his Parramatta release forbidding him from playing for a rival club until the end of what what would have been a four-year deal in Sydney’s west.<\/p>\n

While Lomax is preparing to launch at the Eels, News Corp are reporting that rival clubs, who are already offside regarding a number of proposed rule changes, have expressed concern over the potential of him suiting up for the Storm in 2026.<\/p>\n

The talented outside back is exploring his options, but it’s understood during a meeting on Wednesday, clubs came armed with questions for NRL<\/a> CEO Andrew Abdo, with clubs expressing their concerns over the potential issue.<\/p>\n

Lomax leaving the Eels to join the Storm would be a sensational situation given he was contracted by the blue and gold and only released conditionally.<\/p>\n

It has been floated that Jack Howarth<\/a> could yet head back the other way, with Melbourne desperate to gain Lomax into their own outside backs for his height and talent.<\/p>\n

Howarth being released would be a sensational call in itself given his enormous potential, which saw Melbourne sign him to a five-year deal before he had played a single NRL<\/a> game.<\/p>\n

Coach Craig Bellamy<\/a> spent time with Lomax during the 2025 State of Origin<\/a> camp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former NRL star Zac Lomax remains in limbo over his future, with the released Parramatta Eels outside back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-413794","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\/413794","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=413794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}