{"id":529351,"date":"2026-03-09T18:46:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T18:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/529351\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T18:46:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T18:46:24","slug":"nrl-2026-zac-lomaxs-middle-finger-to-rugby-league-after-signing-with-western-force-wallabies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/529351\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Zac Lomax\u2019s middle finger to rugby league after signing with Western Force, Wallabies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zac Lomax\u2019s decision to turn his back on the NRL and sign with the Western Force on Monday ruffled feathers, but it was his statement that really twisted the knife.<\/p>\n

The star winger agreed to a two-year deal with the Super Rugby club <\/a>\u2014 a contract that opens the door for him to play for the Wallabies at the 2027 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

Lomax conveyed his excitement surrounding the new chapter in his life before talking about the dream of playing for the Wallabies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m incredibly excited and thankful to be joining the Western Force after reaching an agreement with Rugby Australia to make the switch to rugby union.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a huge opportunity and a challenge I\u2019m really looking forward to embracing. Stepping into a new code will push me as a player and that\u2019s something that genuinely motivates me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chance to be part of what the Western Force are building and to test myself at the highest level of rugby union is something that really excites me. <\/p>\n

\u201cLike any player, the 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<\/p>\n

It was that final sentence however that stuck out like a sore thumb and was torn to shreds by several NRL journalists as nothing more than a cheap shot at rugby league.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s tripe,\u201d Brent Read said on NRL 360.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis disappoints me because I have backed Zac to an extent through this whole process, but that’s just a shot at Rugby League. <\/p>\n

\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

\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

Dean Ritchie added: \u201cThat\u2019s a middle finger to rugby league and that\u2019s a shame on the way out because he had a very successful rugby league career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Manly<\/p>\n

Code Sports <\/a>reports Lomax could make his Super Rugby debut within a number of weeks.<\/p>\n

Powerful agent Steve Gillis last week hinted a move to the 15-a-side code was on the cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, he\u2019s a chance to play rugby,\u201d Gillis said on his Chiming In podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is on the table at the moment for Zac. He is going to explore all options.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to find out how keen Rugby Australia are and what they can offer \u2026 there\u2019s a World Cup coming up and overseas options in France and Japan \u2026 the door is still ajar in the NRL.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former NSW State of Origin star first pursued a move to the Melbourne Storm after he requested an early release from the Eels.<\/p>\n

The Eels granted Lomax a conditional release that his move to a rival NRL club before the 2028 season would only be granted with the club\u2019s permission.<\/p>\n

His move to the Storm fell apart spectacularly with the Storm ultimately forced to pay Parramatta legal fees worth up to $250,000 when the case went to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zac Lomax\u2019s decision to turn his back on the NRL and sign with the Western Force on Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-529351","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\/529351","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=529351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}