{"id":528644,"date":"2026-03-09T10:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/528644\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T10:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:39:11","slug":"zac-lomax-cheap-shot-code-switch-to-rugby-union-western-force-wallabies-parramatta-eels-melbourne-storm-round-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/528644\/","title":{"rendered":"Zac Lomax cheap shot, code switch to Rugby Union, Western Force, Wallabies, Parramatta Eels, Melbourne Storm, Round 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ex-Eels star Zac Lomax has been criticised for taking a cheap shot at rugby league on the way out after signing a two-year deal with the Western Force and the Wallabies. <\/p>\n<p>Lomax reached a settlement with the Eels in court that would not allow him to return to the NRL until 2028, unless Parramatta got a suitable player swap in return. <\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkleague-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-nrl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/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\/02\/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>That decision prompted Lomax to give up his hopes of playing for the Melbourne Storm this season and he has since signed a two-year contract worth $400,000 a year to switch codes ahead of the Rugby World Cup on Australian soil in 2027. <\/p>\n<p>The Daily Telegraph\u2019s Brent Read noted a code switch was inevitable once the court ruled in favour of the Eels, who were unable to reach an agreement with the Storm for a player swap. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot entirely unexpected because he didn\u2019t really have a home in Rugby League,\u201d Read said on NRL 360. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, the door was closed on him effectively because no other clubs wanted him apart from Melbourne, so it\u2019s not a surprise he\u2019s going to Rugby Union. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this was always expected to happen once the court case was settled. Western Force, good luck to him. I think their average crowd\u2019s about 5,000, so that\u2019ll be fun.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The Daily Telegraph\u2019s Dean Ritchie put it bluntly when summing up the club that Lomax has signed for and believes he will be back in the NRL inside the next two years. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they\u2019re rubbish, to be honest,\u201d Ritchie said of the Western Force. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were kicked out a while back. Then Twiggy Forrest threw some money at them to get them to come back in. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re a bit of a rabble. No one seems to know anything about them on the East Coast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no way that he will survive two years over there. Zac will be back in Rugby League inside the two years.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>MORE NRL NEWS<\/p>\n<p>CRAWLS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-round-1-analysis-results-highlights-paul-crawley-column-daly-cherryevans-brisbane-broncos\/news-story\/56ac83cd8327bb5a6d3b9be970db9924\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Why whinging Roosters need to pull their heads in; Broncos\u2019 big time bomb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>TEAM TIPS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-team-tips-round-2-teams-ins-and-outs-changes-suspensions-injuries-roosters-broncos-panthers-eels-spencer-leniu-replacement-izack-tago-news\/news-story\/e357edf420477945cb9f040a3cdcce7f\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Benji\u2019s call on Tigers phenom; Robbo scrambles as Madge faces headache<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2018HUGE OPPORTUNITY\u2019: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-zac-lomax-signs-twoyear-deal-with-western-conference-switch-to-rugby-union-super-rugby-contract-wallabies\/news-story\/acc0d1a2ae49120443e204b3c14ade5c\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Lomax decides playing future as ex-NRL star reveals \u2018dream\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Zac Lomax took a shot at rugby league on the way out.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n<p>Lomax chose his words poorly in a statement announcing his \u201cdream\u201d to play for the Wallabies a week after he was hellbent on signing with the Storm. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe dream of one day representing the Wallabies on a truly international stage and potentially competing at a Rugby World Cup is a powerful motivation,\u201d Lomax said.<\/p>\n<p>Having backed Lomax through his contract saga, Read took issue with his choice of words. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that\u2019s tripe,\u201d Read said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis disappoints me because I have backed Zac to an extent through this whole process, but that&#8217;s just a shot at Rugby League. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt may be inadvertent, but you\u2019ve got to be smarter than that. To say a truly international stage, give me a break. You\u2019re leaving the game, go. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one backed Zac Lomax more than Peter V\u2019landys in the past three months. No one cares more about international rugby league than Peter V\u2019landys. If I\u2019m Peter V\u2019landys and I see that quote, I\u2019m saying, go. It\u2019s pathetic.\u201d <\/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>Is Madge the #1 coach under pressure? | 08:15<\/p>\n<p>Ritchie agreed Lomax took an unnecessary parting shot at Rugby League, the game that has given him everything in his sporting career to date. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a middle finger to rugby league and that\u2019s a shame on the way out because Zac Lomax had a very, very successful rugby league career,\u201d Ritchie said. <\/p>\n<p>However, Read still feels Lomax joining a rival code is a loss for rugby league and hurts the game. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was very open about saying I think he should be back in Rugby League,\u201d Read said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought Paramatta should have taken the offer. Pettiness, it\u2019s your word. I\u2019m not using that word, pettiness. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sure people in Melbourne think that way. I think he should be playing Rugby League. I\u2019m disappointed he\u2019s not playing Rugby League. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can argue about whether it affects our game or not to lose him. I think every time you lose a star, it takes a little bit of the spotlight off our game to an extent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bulldog grilled over Seibold pressure | 02:39<\/p>\n<p>However, Braith Anasta believes rugby union is the game that has been hurt more by the Lomax situation, given he only joined the rival code when he was out of other options after his R360 deal fell over and then his rugby league career was put on hold. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI actually think it\u2019s more a blight on rugby union,\u201d Anasta said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you look at it you have got Joseph Suaalii, Angus Crichton, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Zac Lomax, they\u2019re going to walk into the Australian World Cup team. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve got four guys that have left rugby league and if you put the shoe on the other foot, there\u2019s no rugby union players that could leave rugby union and make the Australian rugby league team. It\u2019s not going to happen. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt says a lot about where rugby union\u2019s at and where rugby league\u2019s at. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a bad thing at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Crichton talks milestones, Souths, Lomax | 09:12<\/p>\n<p>But Read still feels watching an incumbent Blues and Kangaroos star joining a rival code hurts the game of rugby league. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s very unfortunate the way it\u2019s happened and I think everyone\u2019s got to accept some blame for that,\u201d Read said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt hasn\u2019t decimated rugby league, but I think it hurts our game because every time you take a star away from the game, I think a little bit of the game goes with it.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ex-Eels star Zac Lomax has been criticised for taking a cheap shot at rugby league on the way&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[8082,64,63,689,18194,262781,53276,56583,61575,28814,262631,59817,13389,262779,4746,647,4466,6407,761,762,158,677,13390,122342,262778,159,108291,2615,2633,85,262780,262637,11737,262636,164494,36719,660,11229,22332],"class_list":{"0":"post-528644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-anthony-seibold","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","12":"tag-braith-anasta","13":"tag-cheap-shot","14":"tag-code-switch","15":"tag-contract-saga","16":"tag-court-case","17":"tag-dean-ritchie","18":"tag-faces-headache","19":"tag-gordon","20":"tag-international-rugby-league","21":"tag-international-stage","22":"tag-mark-st-john","23":"tag-melbourne","24":"tag-melbourne-storm","25":"tag-michael-maguire","26":"tag-national-rugby-league","27":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","28":"tag-nrl","29":"tag-oceania","30":"tag-payne-haas","31":"tag-player-swap","32":"tag-rival-code","33":"tag-rugby-league","34":"tag-rugby-league-career","35":"tag-rugby-recruit","36":"tag-rugby-union","37":"tag-sports","38":"tag-suitable-player-swap","39":"tag-talks-milestones","40":"tag-team-tips","41":"tag-time-bomb","42":"tag-twiggy-forrest","43":"tag-two-year-deal","44":"tag-victoria","45":"tag-western-force","46":"tag-zac-lomax"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528644","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=528644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}