{"id":429515,"date":"2026-01-22T08:01:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T08:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/429515\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T08:01:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T08:01:20","slug":"eels-take-zac-lomax-to-court-over-attempted-nrl-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/429515\/","title":{"rendered":"Eels take Zac Lomax to court over attempted NRL return"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Parramatta Eels have commenced legal proceedings against Zac Lomax<\/a>, escalating a high-profile contractual dispute over the former representative back\u2019s attempted return to the NRL.<\/p>\n

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Eels confirmed they have lodged proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court to enforce the terms of a release agreement signed by Lomax in November 2025, following his request to pursue opportunities outside the NRL.<\/p>\n

According to the Club, Lomax sought a release in late July or early August last year, indicating his intention to explore opportunities beyond rugby league. After negotiations involving Lomax and his legal representatives, Parramatta granted the release on 16 November 2025 \u2014 but only under strict conditions designed to protect the Club.<\/p>\n

Poll closes 4pm, 25\/1\/26<\/p>\n

Release clause at centre of dispute<\/p>\n

Central to the dispute is a clause in the release agreement that prevents Lomax from joining another NRL club before 31 October 2028 without Parramatta\u2019s express written consent.<\/p>\n

The Eels say the condition was included to ensure they would not lose a representative-calibre player to a rival NRL club during the remaining term of Lomax\u2019s original contract without receiving appropriate compensation or benefit.<\/p>\n

Parramatta Chairman Matthew Beach said the Club had no choice but to pursue legal action after negotiations failed to resolve the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is disappointing that we have reached this position, but we have an obligation to the Club\u2019s stakeholders to protect the contractual rights of our Club and the expectation of our Members, players and supporters that contracts will be honoured,\u201d Beach said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in November 2025, we granted Zac Lomax\u2019s request for a release to pursue opportunities outside the NRL on the condition that he would not return to the NRL during the period of his original playing contract with our Club, without our written consent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mediation and Storm talks fail<\/p>\n

Parramatta revealed the matter had already been subject to extensive negotiations, including a formal independent mediation process involving Lomax, his legal team and representatives of the Melbourne Storm.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a> <\/p>\n

However, the Club says no agreement was reached, and Lomax\u2019s legal team has since advised in writing that he does not accept the release conditions as enforceable.<\/p>\n

The Eels also confirmed they were approached by the Storm late last year and engaged in discussions in good faith, but were unable to reach an agreement that they believed represented fair value for their football program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guiding position of our Club has been to ensure a fair exchange of value for our football program in circumstances where the Storm are attempting to obtain the benefit,\u201d Beach said.<\/p>\n

Eels stand firm on contract principles<\/p>\n

Parramatta stressed that Lomax had legal representation throughout the release negotiations and accepted the conditions after receiving advice, with the release documentation formally registered with the NRL.<\/p>\n

The Club also noted that Lomax had indicated at the time his focus was on pursuing rugby union opportunities, particularly with R360.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Club believes in the importance of observing contractual obligations,\u201d Beach said.<\/p>\n

\u201cContracts allow Clubs and players to operate with certainty and within a framework of rules. Contracts are the very stuff that any member of the community and companies have to honour in order to ensure that there is fair dealing. The same applies to the NRL, Clubs and players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the legal action, Parramatta says it remains open to discussions with other NRL clubs if appropriate value is offered.<\/p>\n

\u201cZac and his agent still have an opportunity to work with us to explore options with the other 16 NRL clubs,\u201d Beach added.<\/p>\n

\u201cNotwithstanding this action, we remain open to discussions with any Club who may be willing to offer the appropriate value for our football program.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Eels confirmed senior barrister Arthur Moses SC has been retained to represent the Club in court.<\/p>\n

The outcome of the case could have significant ramifications for player release agreements and contract enforcement across the NRL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Parramatta Eels have commenced legal proceedings against Zac Lomax, escalating a high-profile contractual dispute over the former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,4466,9112,760,85,22332],"class_list":["post-429515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-melbourne-storm","tag-parramatta-eels","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-zac-lomax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429515","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=429515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}