Zac Lomax

[TheParraboy]

With the amount Lomax would have made over the past 7-8 years, he should be able to just take two years off and train full time. He will come back fresh and injury free for 2028. Or just play rugby for triple the average annual salary for a couple of years. What a f**king greedy merkin he is thinking he can only afford to play NRL. If your mortgage is too much, sell the house and buy something for under $2M ffs

Some nice 2br units in Parramatta for around 600k..

 

[viole02]

We can try and ship Matto to New Zealand this season, to get Mitch B early?

Warriors could do with a gun winger. DWZ has a sick name but i dont rate him and lomax would be an upgrade. Only problem is warriors have ptsd of players leaving early and zac is great at that. Only worth it for us if we get mitch this year too otherwise hard pass from me.

 

[emjaycee]

So for eg.. if Warriors/Barnett says..yep.. we’ll do a swap deal with Lomax, Lomax can still say No to the swap yeah?

We cannot do a swap deal and offer them Lomax as he isnt under contract to us.
We can however endorse them signing him if HE asks for it, and in exchange they could release Barnett to play for us.

 

[senior]

Lomax meets Schmidt about rugby switch as Storm’s player trade offer revealed

Zac Lomax remains in limbo after coming to an out-of-court settlement with Parramatta, but could he play at the Rugby World Cup?

www.theage.com.au

Melbourne were trying to trade Josiah Pahulu or Lazarus Vaalepu for Lomax

 

[Captain Apollo]

So for eg.. if Warriors/Barnett says..yep.. we’ll do a swap deal with Lomax, Lomax can still say No to the swap yeah?

I read a report quoting the Warriors CEO saying they'd be open to receiving a transfer fee, so a "player swap" is not mandatory.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Cry me a river Craig -

‘Real big loss’: Bellamy‘s warning to NRL as Storm coach breaks silence on Lomax saga

‘Real big loss’: Bellamy‘s warning to NRL as Storm coach breaks silence on Lomax saga

www.foxsports.com.au

No sympathy what so ever. As others have said, Lomax was "out of the sport" by his own choice by going to R360. The code of rugby league doesn't owe him anything since R360 fell through on a 2026 start date. He made his bed, he can lie in it.

 

[Noise]

Lomax meets Schmidt about rugby switch as Storm’s player trade offer revealed

Zac Lomax remains in limbo after coming to an out-of-court settlement with Parramatta, but could he play at the Rugby World Cup?

www.theage.com.au

Melbourne were trying to trade Josiah Pahulu or Lazarus Vaalepu for Lomax

Giving us their biblical name players to join Moses.

 

[Timana]

I read a report quoting the Warriors CEO saying they'd be open to receiving a transfer fee, so a "player swap" is not mandatory.

Really? Then we could've got the $700k from Melbourne and forwarded all or some of it to Warriors for Barnett and then Lomax could play at the Storm.

I am sure someone would've thought of this

 

[Timana]

Is there a decent kiwi that wants to go home? We can allow lomax to play for that club, the kiwi then can goto Warriors and we get Barnett.

Maybe Hughes wants to go home lol.

That would be funny

 

[TheRam]

It wasnt the judge who decided on the 2028 return, it was us.
In NSW, non-compete clauses can have some conditions of them watered down by the court, so we ran the risk that the judge decided 3 years was too harsh and reduced it to two or even one year (or found the whole thing unenforceable).

By reducing it by one year during negotiations and reaching a settlement regarding costs, we effectively removed the risk that the judge would do more. If he had thrown out our original agreement and found in favour of Lomax, we would have had to pay all legal fees (his and ours) and he would be playing for Melbourne this year.

The agreement reached overnight was placed into 'orders' by the court, making it legally binding on both sides.

Yeah I get that, but something tells me that the NRL shit their gears when the subpoena was issued for fear of what might have been disclosed. But anyway, it is done now, and at least we won this battle. Lets hope it yields positive fruit for our club down the road from here.

 

[TheRam]

As @emjaycee stated. The judge didn't.
FFS. Read the thread.

NO!

 

[Pazza]

I really want to comment about this bullshit that Parra have now caused Lomax to be lost to Rugby League. It's the same result as when we first released him to f**k of to a fantasy comp. Lomax caused Lomax to be lost to RL. PVL would do well to remember this.

We tried to bring Israel Falou back to the game.....

 

[King-Gutho94]

Seems like no one cares Lomax is meeting Rugby

 

[JokerEel]

If PVL really wanted him to stay in the game and wasn't just trying to help the Storm, he would have come in and figured out a way for him to stay in the game...
Give him a job in the NRL headquarters

 

[Johnny88]

Revealed: The players the Storm was prepared to trade for Zac Lomax

ByAdrian Proszenko
March 4, 2026 — 11.45am

Melbourne attempted to offload to Parramatta one of two fringe first-graders – with 33 NRL games between them – in exchange for allowing representative star Zac Lomax to join the Storm.
Lomax remains in league limbo after coming to an out-of-court settlement with Parramatta that effectively means he can’t return to the NRL for two years – instead of three – without the Eels’ permission. Most of the compensation negotiations centred around Ryan Matterson, and how much the Storm was prepared to pay to take him off Parramatta’s books.



Zac Lomax settles case with Eels hours before hearing
Zac Lomax has settled a bitter legal dispute with his former club just hours before it was due to hit the NSW Supreme Court.
The clubs finally agreed on a figure; Melbourne would pay $416,000, the remainder of Matterson’s contract for this season, plus a further $300,000 as a transfer fee. However, when Matterson demanded the Storm guarantee him a spot for 2027, the deal unravelled. In opting not to shift south, Matterson may have ended his own NRL career, and that of Lomax.
What hasn’t been revealed is the two other players that Melbourne put forward for a player swap. Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity, because the players themselves may not have been aware of the development, told this masthead the Eels were offered the relatively unknown Josiah Pahulu or Lazarus Vaalepu in exchange for Lomax.
Vaalepu is a 26-year-old prop who has made 11 first-grade appearances since making his NRL debut in 2024. All but one of them have been off the interchange bench. He didn’t make the cut for Thursday night’s clash against Parramatta at AAMI Park. His career highlight to date has been making two Test appearances for Samoa in 2024.
Pahulu is also a front-rower, who has made 22 NRL appearances since making his debut for the Gold Coast in 2024. The 21-year-old was one of Melbourne’s off-season recruits, but has also missed selection for the Eels clash. The Storm raised the prospect of shifting him just months after he arrived at the club.

The Storm were willing to trade Josiah Pahulu (left) or Lazarus Vaalepu (right) for Zac Lomax (centre), along with a transfer fee.Credit:Getty Images
The Storm were keen to suppress the identity of the players they put forward, given they both remain contracted until 2027, had the Lomax court case gone to a full hearing.
Given Parramatta was being asked to give up their rights to Lomax – a NSW and Australian representative considered one of the best wingers in the world – they found the offer of either Vaalepu or Pahulu unacceptable.
The Eels have maintained throughout the saga that they would only consider offers that would strengthen their roster. They felt being asked to swap a marquee man like Lomax for a relative no-name wasn’t a trade proposed in the spirit of cooperation.



After a long and costly saga, Zac Lomax remains in limbo. But one side came out on top
It was only at the eleventh hour, just before the Supreme Court hearing got underway, that Melbourne sharpened their pencil and upped its offer for Matterson. The Storm also tabled a $750,000 transfer fee offer for Lomax, but the Eels refused because it couldn’t be added to their salary cap.
Ultimately, a settlement was reached after Melbourne agreed to pay $250,000 of Parramatta’s legal fees in exchange for Lomax being able to return to the NRL in 2028. That’s 12 months earlier than the original agreement that Lomax struck with Parramatta, but still leaves him in league limbo.
Matterson’s career is also at a crossroads. The former NSW back-rower has fallen down the pecking order of Eels forwards and will struggle to break back into the NRL squad. Off contract at the end of the season, and having gone through a period where he has again suffered concussion-like symptoms, he has been unable to find a club for 2027.

Revealed: The players the Storm was prepared to trade for Zac Lomax

Lomax remains in league limbo after coming to an out-of-court settlement with Parramatta that effectively means he can’t return to the NRL for two years.

www.smh.com.au

 

[Soren Lorenson]

Lomax meets Schmidt about rugby switch as Storm’s player trade offer revealed

Zac Lomax remains in limbo after coming to an out-of-court settlement with Parramatta, but could he play at the Rugby World Cup?

www.theage.com.au

Melbourne were trying to trade Josiah Pahulu or Lazarus Vaalepu for Lomax

Pahulu the bloke who's been there for five seconds and left the Titans after they wouldn't pay him his bonus.

 

[King-Gutho94]

Revealed: The players the Storm was prepared to trade for Zac Lomax

ByAdrian Proszenko
March 4, 2026 — 11.45am

Melbourne attempted to offload to Parramatta one of two fringe first-graders – with 33 NRL games between them – in exchange for allowing representative star Zac Lomax to join the Storm.
Lomax remains in league limbo after coming to an out-of-court settlement with Parramatta that effectively means he can’t return to the NRL for two years – instead of three – without the Eels’ permission. Most of the compensation negotiations centred around Ryan Matterson, and how much the Storm was prepared to pay to take him off Parramatta’s books.



Zac Lomax settles case with Eels hours before hearing
Zac Lomax has settled a bitter legal dispute with his former club just hours before it was due to hit the NSW Supreme Court.
The clubs finally agreed on a figure; Melbourne would pay $416,000, the remainder of Matterson’s contract for this season, plus a further $300,000 as a transfer fee. However, when Matterson demanded the Storm guarantee him a spot for 2027, the deal unravelled. In opting not to shift south, Matterson may have ended his own NRL career, and that of Lomax.
What hasn’t been revealed is the two other players that Melbourne put forward for a player swap. Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity, because the players themselves may not have been aware of the development, told this masthead the Eels were offered the relatively unknown Josiah Pahulu or Lazarus Vaalepu in exchange for Lomax.
Vaalepu is a 26-year-old prop who has made 11 first-grade appearances since making his NRL debut in 2024. All but one of them have been off the interchange bench. He didn’t make the cut for Thursday night’s clash against Parramatta at AAMI Park. His career highlight to date has been making two Test appearances for Samoa in 2024.
Pahulu is also a front-rower, who has made 22 NRL appearances since making his debut for the Gold Coast in 2024. The 21-year-old was one of Melbourne’s off-season recruits, but has also missed selection for the Eels clash. The Storm raised the prospect of shifting him just months after he arrived at the club.

The Storm were willing to trade Josiah Pahulu (left) or Lazarus Vaalepu (right) for Zac Lomax (centre), along with a transfer fee.Credit:Getty Images
The Storm were keen to suppress the identity of the players they put forward, given they both remain contracted until 2027, had the Lomax court case gone to a full hearing.
Given Parramatta was being asked to give up their rights to Lomax – a NSW and Australian representative considered one of the best wingers in the world – they found the offer of either Vaalepu or Pahulu unacceptable.
The Eels have maintained throughout the saga that they would only consider offers that would strengthen their roster. They felt being asked to swap a marquee man like Lomax for a relative no-name wasn’t a trade proposed in the spirit of cooperation.



After a long and costly saga, Zac Lomax remains in limbo. But one side came out on top
It was only at the eleventh hour, just before the Supreme Court hearing got underway, that Melbourne sharpened their pencil and upped its offer for Matterson. The Storm also tabled a $750,000 transfer fee offer for Lomax, but the Eels refused because it couldn’t be added to their salary cap.
Ultimately, a settlement was reached after Melbourne agreed to pay $250,000 of Parramatta’s legal fees in exchange for Lomax being able to return to the NRL in 2028. That’s 12 months earlier than the original agreement that Lomax struck with Parramatta, but still leaves him in league limbo.
Matterson’s career is also at a crossroads. The former NSW back-rower has fallen down the pecking order of Eels forwards and will struggle to break back into the NRL squad. Off contract at the end of the season, and having gone through a period where he has again suffered concussion-like symptoms, he has been unable to find a club for 2027.

Revealed: The players the Storm was prepared to trade for Zac Lomax

Lomax remains in league limbo after coming to an out-of-court settlement with Parramatta that effectively means he can’t return to the NRL for two years.

www.smh.com.au

Honestly that's insulting if they think those 2 were the same value for Zac Lomax

 

[the phantom menace]

Lomax meets Schmidt about rugby switch as Storm’s player trade offer revealed

Zac Lomax remains in limbo after coming to an out-of-court settlement with Parramatta, but could he play at the Rugby World Cup?

www.theage.com.au

Melbourne were trying to trade Josiah Pahulu or Lazarus Vaalepu for Lomax

Who...?

 

[JohnStoppafarty]

Yeah I get that, but something tells me that the NRL shit their gears when the subpoena was issued for fear of what might have been disclosed. But anyway, it is done now, and at least we won this battle. Lets hope it yields positive fruit for our club down the road from here.

The release of the "blowtorch" text/email (whatever it was) and the subsequent subpoena is the moment we had it won.
Once the Trippers and NRL knew that, it was game over for them.
Them NOT knowing what else we had ruined any chance for them to omit anything.
Not even Melb are going to go into court and pretend something doesn't exist considering the circumstances.
Melb and NRL had to assume we had a copy of everything at that point.
Hoping for positives down the road? Hope in one hand ...

 

[Trifili13]

If Storm and the NRL didn't want Lomax lost to the game then why was there a settlement as I am sure Parra would have been happy to front up to court and have the judge decide. After all, wasn't the Storm bleating about restraint of trade, so see it through.