{"id":452612,"date":"2026-02-02T00:41:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T00:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/452612\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T00:41:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T00:41:16","slug":"zac-lomax-parramatta-eels-release-new-details-melbourne-storm-court-case-legal-action-r360-news-videos-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/452612\/","title":{"rendered":"Zac Lomax Parramatta Eels release, new details, Melbourne Storm, court case, legal action, R360, news, videos, highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>New details have emerged in the wake of Zac Lomax\u2019s departure from the Eels, with the star flyer reportedly willing to pay a hefty sum to secure a release while also making a shock admission.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/sport\/nrl\/storm-s-latest-offer-rebuffed-as-new-details-emerge-in-lomax-stoush-20260131-p5nyhf.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">SMH<\/a>, Lomax informed Eels officials he had no desire to play rugby league again when he requested an immediate release from his contract.<\/p>\n<p>Then, when negotiating his exit, the Origin winger agreed to pay the Parramatta club $200,000 once his contract was R360 was signed.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768365730_454_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WHAT&#8217;S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the 2026 NRL Pre-season series plus the All-Star matches LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/profile\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the rebel rugby competition\u2019s start date was delayed, leaving Lomax without a club or contract for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n<p>Zac Lomax reportedly informed the Eels he had no desire to ever play rugby league again.Source: The Daily Telegraph<\/p>\n<p>As previously reported, another term of his release is that he is unable to join another NRL team before the end of the 2028 season without the Eels\u2019 stamp of approval.<\/p>\n<p>As it stands, Lomax\u2019s future is before the courts, with Parramatta powerbrokers commencing legal proceedings against their former player.<\/p>\n<p>The 26-year-old reportedly has a desire to join the Storm, who offered $200,000 in monetary compensation to the Eels in the hopes of securing the winger\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the Eels declined that offer and identified a three-man shortlist of players they would deem acceptable in a trade deal.<\/p>\n<p>Xavier Coates, Stefano Utoikamanu and Jack Howarth were the trio identified by Parramatta as suitable candidates to join their club.<\/p>\n<p>In response, Melbourne bosses tabled a $300,000 package or the possibility of taking on another player to free cap space.<\/p>\n<p>Get all the latest news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports NRL Sportmail. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/newsletter-sign-up?utm_source=NRLArticle&amp;utm_medium=TextLink&amp;utm_campaign=signup\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up now!!! <\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;More Difficult if Fogarty stayed&#8221; | 01:12<\/p>\n<p>Both offers were denied, with those funds unable to be used on top of their salary cap.<\/p>\n<p>The rugby league world has widely backed the Eels\u2019 standing firm in their request for fair compensation after losing a representative player.<\/p>\n<p>For Fox League\u2019s Paul Crawley, there\u2019s \u201cno way in the world\u201d that the Eels should back down and allow Lomax to wear the famous purple jersey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s outrageous from Zac Lomax to expect to get straight back into the NRL, I can\u2019t see how he has a legal leg to stand on,\u201d Crawley said on the Kayo Sports NRL podcast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe went into an agreement with Parramatta, firstly he got out of his contract at St George Illawarra, went to Parramatta and signed a four-year deal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLasted one season, I think it was last July he went to the club and said he wanted to take up an opportunity outside of rugby league in R360.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Only question is where Sharpe fits in&#8217; | 06:14<\/p>\n<p>MORE NRL NEWS<\/p>\n<p>LADDER BUBBLE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-ladder-bubble-who-could-drop-out-of-the-eight-who-could-improve-into-the-eight-fox-sports-lab-raiders-eels-tigers-dolphins-analysis-news\/news-story\/92bac9d105c8108df7f142956fafda81\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Raiders\u2019 horror top-eight habit exposed; Eels head finals-bound trio<\/a><\/p>\n<p>CRAWLS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/teams\/nrl-2026-mitchell-moses-and-jonah-pezet-strike-up-close-bond-for-eel-latrell-mitchell-injury-fears-future-of-nrl-all-stars-paul-crawley-column-opinion\/news-story\/2ec0ca530497c81c1afa3040ac318b7c\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Moses move that puts rivals on alert; awkward issue no one will talk about<\/a><\/p>\n<p>LUAI Q AND A: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-jarome-luai-opens-up-on-wests-tigers-move-in-exclusive-interview-benji-marshall-relationship\/news-story\/347758a67d01735d817375964ea26afd\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Star\u2019s shock revelation from Tigers teammate&#8230; and Benji \u2018eye-opener\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith legal representation he sat down with the club, he agreed to the terms of a release and one said he wasn\u2019t to play in the NRL with another club until the end of 2028 unless it was with Parramatta\u2019s permission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, when R360 falls over, suddenly the Storm want to pick him up and Parramatta are expected to fall over and say \u2018no worries\u2019. No way in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Previously, the Tigers and Broncos have accepted money in exchange for the release of players.<\/p>\n<p>The Bulldogs paid the Tigers $165,000 for Lachlan Galvin in 2025, while the Canterbury club also forked out $500,000 to secure Karl Oloapu\u2019s services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New details have emerged in the wake of Zac Lomax\u2019s departure from the Eels, with the star flyer&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-452612","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\/452612","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=452612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}