Peter V’landys has declared Zac Lomax should not be “hung and strung” for making a contract mistake, urging the Eels and Storm to come to a peaceful resolution.
Parramatta powerbrokers took Lomax and the Melbourne club to court, with the NRL also being dragged into the legal matter on Wednesday after being issued a subpoena.
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The Eels’ lawyers were seeking documents which detail their dealings with the Storm as Melbourne plotted a move to sign the star winger in the latest update in the ugly court case.
The legal battle centres around his release from his $700,000-a-year contract one season into a four-year deal, hoping to join rebel global rugby union competition R360.
The Eels included in their deed of release a clause that during his contract period – up until October 31, 2028 – Lomax could not sign with another NRL club without their written consent.
Therefore, when he attempted to sign with the Storm after R360 fell over, he needed permission from Parramatta bosses to do so.
Now ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has declared he won’t allow Lomax to leave rugby league for simply making a “mistake”.
“Zac Lomax is a marquee player, okay he’s made a mistake. We all make mistakes in life,” V’landys said in Triple M on Sunday.
“If he goes over to rugby union, they are going to get mountains and mountains of free publicity at our expense.
“Why would we want to give somebody to another competitor to get all this publicity? They got (Joseph) Suaalii and that’s all they promote.
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“Ad nauseam, all you see is him. So I don’t want to give our competitors one of our marquee players, so I hope he stays in the game.
“You’ve got to remember, what everyone has forgotten here is Zac is a human being. The mental state that he must be in at the moment with all the backlash he is getting.
“The only sin he has done, when you look at it, is that he tried to do better for him and his family.
“Any player has a responsibility to do the best for his family and himself, so he made a mistake, I don’t think he should be hung and strung for it.”
Lomax has been hit with a wave of criticism during his ongoing contract debacle, with the Eels standing firm in their contract position.
The Storm offered multiple transfer fees, including financial compensation of $200,000 and $300,000.
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Melbourne could also end up with a salary cap headache, with the SMH previously reporting Parramatta are claiming the Storm promised to cover Lomax’s legal expenses.
Therefore, the NRL will have to make a decision as to whether those funds gave Melbourne an advantage in their bid to sign Lomax and therefore come under their cap.
His legal bill could reportedly sit at around $250,000.
Meanwhile, V’landys has raised an interesting point — the Eels also recruited Lomax for free, urging the club to act in the “best interests of the game”.
“I know the Parramatta supporters all want blood, but when you look back Parramatta got him for free to start with. He went from St George to Parramatta at no transfer fee,” V’landys said.
“To be in the courts is really not in the best interest of the game.
“At the beginning of it I sat between the two parties trying to get a deal, I told them ‘be can do people, go and have the best interests of the game as a whole’,”
“Don’t have your self interests in it, just what is best for the game. Unfortunately they couldn’t come to that resolution.”
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