Eels star Zac Lomax has batted away questioning about his links to R360, insisting his focus is on seeing out his contract with Parramatta.
Lomax is under contract with the Eels until the end of the 2028 but that hasn’t stopped speculation the 26-year-old may be heading to the breakaway rugby competition.
“Nah, not at all,” Lomax said, when asked at The Dally M Awards if there was anything he wanted to say about R360.
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“I mean, I’m contracted at the Eels for another three years.
“I’ve loved my time there and I’m loving every second of it.”
On Wednesday night’s edition of NRL 360, reporter Brent Read named the players who are being chased by the rebel competition.
“The names, they’ve been out there,” Read said.
“(Ryan) Papenhuyzen, Lomax, Jye Gray, big Nelson (Asofa-Solomona), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.”
Read indicated that Lomax’s manager Clinton Schifcofske seemed to be heavily involved in courting players for the R360 competition.
“When you ring around about R360 at the moment there’s one name that is common and it’s Clinton Schifcofske,” Read said.
“But isn’t that his job?” Host Dan Ginnane asked, in reply.
“It is his job, yes,” Read responded.
“But we’re talking about a guy named Zac Lomax who has got three years left on his deal.
“And that’s I think the one that really grinds people because you’re talking to R360 about a player who is under contract for three more years.
“And the NRL will be looking at this.
“There’s a lot of pressure at the moment coming from club land to the NRL to look at this.
“To look at agents’ behaviour around this, this circus that’s going on and as I said, clubs aren’t happy about it.”
Ginnane then shifted the conversation to Papenhuyzen, who is also managed by Schifcofske.
“Papenhuyzen, are Melbourne really resigned to losing him?” Ginnane asked the panel.
“I don’t think they would be that worried,” co-host Gorden Tallis replied.
“And I’m not talking for Melbourne. I think with the injuries, the way he’s played.
“They’ve got that young guy just waiting in the wings as well, Sua Fa’alogo.
“I think they wouldn’t be upset.”
Read felt the Storm have accepted that Papenhuyzen will leave the club.
“I think they are resigned to him going,” Read added.
“They really love Ryan. He’s been a great servant for them.
“But they’ve got some cap difficulties at the moment.
“Their cap’s very tight, and he would solve a problem for them and they’ve got Sua Fa’alogo waiting in the wings.
“Whilst I think they’d be disappointed to see him go, it wouldn’t devastate them.”
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Read believed the longer term concern is the R360 competition will grow, and then target even higher profile NRL stars.
“The worry is though, if this takes off, just say it does get some legs and it gets momentum,” Read said.
“The money comes in and it gathers momentum, gains traction.
“More money comes into the game, then Nathan Cleary’s on their list, Payne Haas is on their list.
“That’s the concern.”
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