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The Storm were hopeful of recruiting Lomax, but negotiations soured before a court battle began \u2014 which ultimately cost Melbourne $250,000 in legal fees paid to the Eels<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the end, Parramatta and Melbourne powerbrokers were unable to strike a deal and the Storm didn\u2019t get their man, which is a \u201cwin\u201d according to Fox League\u2019s Paul Crawley.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know what it\u2019s a win for? It\u2019s a win in restoring some faith in the NRL\u2019s contract system,\u201d Crawley said on NRL360 on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause Parramatta had a contract with Zac Lomax, he wanted to get out, they sat down and agreed to terms. He couldn\u2019t then stand by it.\u201d<\/p>\n Eels forward Ryan Matterson was also caught in the legal crossfire, with the Storm agreeing to sign him in a bid to secure Lomax\u2019s transfer and take on the remainder of his $410,000 salary.<\/p>\n However, he blocked a move to Melbourne and as such, Lomax\u2019s move fell over \u2014 a decision he has every right to make according to Crawley.<\/p>\n \u201cRyan Matterson, who has been caught up in this, not of his own doing had every right to stand his ground and do what he did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the Parramatta administration, this is a club that for decades has lacked leadership, and Matthew Beach and Jim Sarantinos deserve so much credit for doing the right thing by their club, by their football team and by the game.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of the court case, the Eels\u2019 release terms remain in place after not being able to negotiate sufficient compensation for losing their star winger.<\/p>\n According to The Daily Telegraph\u2019s David Riccio, there\u2019s been no winners when asked if Parramatta have come away from the situation victorious.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere? What have they got to show for it,\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n To which NRL360 host Braith Anasta replied: \u201crespect, dignity, credibility. They have stuck to their guns\u201d.<\/p>\n Get all the latest news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports NRL Sportmail. Sign up now!!! <\/a><\/p>\n ‘There was nothing there’ Anasta | 01:38<\/p>\n \u201cThey are down an Origin player, they are currently down an Origin player,\u201d Riccio responded.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what they wanted, they wanted a player.\u201d<\/p>\n Rugby league legend Gorden Tallis then hit back with a statement that shows the Eels\u2019 ambitions as a finals contender.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy would you give an Origin player to a club that has played in 10 grand finals… that\u2019s the loss,\u201d Tallis said.<\/p>\n Anasta echoed his opinion, saying: \u201cThat would have been a loss… they are happy to honour the contract, they didn\u2019t want to take a second tier player from Melbourne.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t want to give Melbourne a loaded gun with one of their best players who decided to walk out on them, to compete against them not only in Round 1 but as premiership threats.<\/p>\n \u201cParramatta look great at the moment, I love what they\u2019re doing. A lot of what they\u2019re doing on the field has to do with what they are doing off it and the stance they are taking.<\/p>\n \u201cThe coach they have hired and they are backing themselves, that to me says a lot to the playing group as well.<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing that \u2018you know what? You want to play with us, you play with us\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Anasta went on to raise another interesting point regarding R360, the competition Lomax initially was hopeful of signing up to as a marquee player.<\/p>\n Speaking of his own experience as Cameron Munster\u2019s agent, he revealed R360 representatives had approached him regarding a potential switch to the rebel rugby comp.<\/p>\n However, he deemed a move too much of a \u201crisk\u201d.<\/p>\n MORE NRL NEWS<\/p>\n SAGA OVER: Shock end to Lomax drama as Eels teammate\u2019s fatal snub revealed<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018JUST FOUND OUT\u2019: Ryles reacts to big Lomax call<\/a><\/p>\n PLAYER SWAP: What every club could offer for Lomax<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018CALLED WAYNE STRAIGHT AWAY\u2019: Pros and cons list that decided Bunnies star\u2019s future<\/a><\/p>\n ‘O’Sullivan the better option’ Riccio | 03:24<\/p>\n Lomax\u2019s management, meanwhile, took that risk and have come away with a \u201cduck egg\u201d after being lured away from the NRL by a \u201cpie in the sky\u201d according to Tallis.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen R360 came up, I (got phone calls) from a third party about Cameron. As an agent, advisor, mentor, you\u2019ve got to look at it,\u201d Anasta explained.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no competition, there is no competition as yet. Any guarantee of money, it\u2019s a huge risk, rolling the dice.<\/p>\n \u201cThere needs to be some accountability taken by him and his team here, I would never put my player in a position like that. That\u2019s not having a direct crack at them.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if you peel it all back, it was high risk from the get go. There was nothing there and Peter V\u2019landys said it himself.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a risk of your playing not returning for 10 years, and you\u2019re happy with that? You\u2019re gambling, they went all in and they got a duck egg.\u201d<\/p>\n Crawley also added: \u201cWhat we do know is that he either ignored good advice of he took bad advice, so where this goes from here will be interesting to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Lomax could still land at an NRL club and Anasta is predicting it could come sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n \u201cHe will be back within six to eight months, he will be with another team if not the Melbourne Storm if they can release a player of a higher calibre,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the wake of Zac Lomax\u2019s contract saga coming to an end, one positive has become clear \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-515794","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\/515794","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=515794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}