{"id":419323,"date":"2026-01-17T15:17:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/419323\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T15:17:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:17:34","slug":"parramatta-set-asking-price-for-lomax-release-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/419323\/","title":{"rendered":"Parramatta set asking price for Lomax release – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Parramatta Eels<\/a> are reportedly weighing up releasing Zac Lomax<\/a> from the condition where he can’t play for another NRL<\/a> club until the end of 2028, but want a player in return.<\/p>\n

Lomax was released by Parramatta at the end of 2025 to seek opportunities in a rival code.<\/p>\n

It was commonly believed that the outside back, who played State of Origin<\/a> for New South Wales in both 2024 when he was with the St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a>, and 2025 during his first season with Parramatta, was set to join the Saudi Arabian-backed R360 competition.<\/p>\n

The rugby union competition was set to promise players seven-figure deals; however, it has now been postponed to 2028, leaving Lomax in the lurch.<\/p>\n

He has since been linked to Australian super rugby clubs the Western Force and Brumbies with a potential shot at the 2027 World Cup with the Wallabies on the radar, but more recently, it’s Craig Bellamy<\/a> and the Melbourne Storm<\/a> who have shown interest.<\/p>\n

The Storm are looking to make changes after two straight grand final losses, but also have spots to fill with the departure of Ryan Papenhuyzen<\/a>, Jonah Pezet<\/a> and Nelson Asofa-Solomona<\/a> at the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

The Sydney Morning Herald have reported the Eels’ asking price, originally believed to be Jack Howarth<\/a>, now has other options for the Victorian club.<\/p>\n

Howarth is still on the list, but the Storm could also choose to send either prop Stefano Utoikamanu<\/a>, who had his first year in Melbourne last year, or Queensland Maroons<\/a> winger Xavier Coates<\/a> to the Eels.<\/p>\n

Howarth is the youngest of the trio but potentially has the brightest future.<\/p>\n

Melbourne signed him to a five-year deal before he had played a game of NRL<\/a>, and while he has struggled to stay on the field amid injuries at times, his ability to play centre or second-row and representative calibre potential make him one of the game’s most exciting prospects.<\/p>\n

Utoikamanu played for the Blues<\/a> in 2025 after moving from the Wests Tigers<\/a>, taking his game to a new level in Melbourne, while Coates is a walk-up starter for Queensland and one of the most dangerous attacking players in the competition with uncoachable attributes.<\/p>\n

Melbourne’s appetite to release any of the trio to bring Lomax to the club remains to be seen, but with it already confirmed that Nick Meaney<\/a> and Tyran Wishart<\/a> are heading to the Perth Bears<\/a> in 2027, they may well be tempted into a shuffle.<\/p>\n

Exactly where Lomax would fit in remains to be seen, however, Howarth’s departure would open up a spot in the centres, while Coates leaving would be a direct swap with Lomax given that he has slotted in on the wing at the Eels and Dragons over the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

Craig Bellamy<\/a> worked with Lomax in the NSW Blues<\/a> camp in 2025 where he served as a consultant to Laurie Daley<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Parramatta Eels are reportedly weighing up releasing Zac Lomax from the condition where he can’t play for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-419323","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\/419323","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=419323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}