Melbourne’s public stoush with the Eels has taken another fiery turn after Storm majority owner Matt Tripp blasted Parramatta for their handling of the Zac Lomax saga.
New details emerged on Monday in the wake of Lomax’s 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.
According to the SMH, Lomax informed Eels officials he had no desire to play rugby league again when he requested an immediate release from his contract while agreeing to pay the Parramatta club $200,000 once his contract with R360 was signed.
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Ultimately, the rebel rugby competition’s start date was delayed, leaving Lomax without a club or contract for the 2026 season.
Tripp defended Lomax, believing the star outside back was put between a rock and a hard place when R360 postponed their tournament.
Tripp detailed the timeline since Lomax’s Eels exit and his interest in joining the Storm, revealing that the 26-year-old wanted to do right by his former club — and claiming the Eels were “thrilled to get him off their books”, despite the club railing against him joining an NRL rival.
“The world now sees Zac as a guy who deliberately walked out on Parramatta with bad intentions,” Tripp told Code Sports.
“The reality is, he was unreliably informed that R360 was going ahead. When he asked for a release, he genuinely had no intention of joining anything other than R360.
“Parramatta happily gave him that release providing he didn’t go back into the NRL. When it became apparently that R360 wasn’t happening we contacted his management – as did six other clubs – and we all got a flat out ‘not interested’.
“I engaged with Zac over the two weeks leading up to Christmas and it wasn’t until the new year that he agreed that if Parramatta would release him, he would come to Melbourne, but only after trying to do the right thing by asking Parramatta if they’d take him back.
“He’s been crucified for being sold a dream that ended up a nightmare. Given R360 has become moot, and Parramatta didn’t want him back because they were thrilled to get him off their books, I’m not sure what the young man was meant to do?”
Lomax and the Eels are set to do battle in the courtroom next week and the outcome will determine whether the gun winger is able to wear Storm colours in 2026.
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’ stamp of approval.
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’s signature.
Instead, the Eels declined that offer and identified a three-man shortlist of players they would deem acceptable in a trade deal.
Xavier Coates, Stefano Utoikamanu and Jack Howarth were the trio identified by Parramatta as suitable candidates to join their club.
In response, Melbourne bosses tabled a $300,000 package or the possibility of taking on another player to free cap space.
Both offers were denied, with those funds unable to be used on top of their salary cap.
Tripp labelled the Eels’ current stance as “odd” and urged the club to look at the situation through a different lens, reminding them they were able to land gun half Jonah Pezet because of Lomax’s exit.
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“Parramatta were clearly trying to free up cap space to get Jonah Pezet, which they did by moving on Zac. If he didn’t go, could they have secured Jonah? I’m not so sure,” Tripp continued.
“The other big thing for us was that (Eels coach) Jason Ryles was halfway through a contract at Melbourne and Parramatta came along and made him an offer.
“They didn’t contact us, they just did it. We allowed that to happen. No compensation. No kicking and screaming. We just accepted it because we cared for Jason and wanted to see him do well.
“Now the shoe is on the other foot and their behaviour appears a little odd.
“I’m not sure why they think we’re the bad guy in all of this.”
The rugby league world has widely backed the Eels’ standing firm in their request for fair compensation after losing a representative player.
For Fox League’s Paul Crawley, there’s “no way in the world” that the Eels should back down and allow Lomax to wear the famous purple jersey.
“I think it’s outrageous from Zac Lomax to expect to get straight back into the NRL, I can’t see how he has a legal leg to stand on,” Crawley said on the Kayo Sports NRL podcast.
“He 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.
“Lasted 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.
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“With legal representation he sat down with the club, he agreed to the terms of a release and one said he wasn’t to play in the NRL with another club until the end of 2028 unless it was with Parramatta’s permission.
“Now, when R360 falls over, suddenly the Storm want to pick him up and Parramatta are expected to fall over and say ‘no worries’. No way in the world.”
Previously, the Tigers and Broncos have accepted money in exchange for the release of players.
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’s services.
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