Lomax "should sit out the season" and learn some lessons

A year on the sidelines might not be the worst idea for Zac Lomax as his fallout with the Eels and looming legal hearing gets uglier by the day.

This week, Melbourne Storm boss Matt Tripp has slammed the Parramatta club for its treatment of the 26-year-old whose future in the sport has been in limbo since he was released by the club but a move to the R360 fell through.

A delay to the rebel league’s inaugural season has left Lomax in league purgatory. And while the Storm are keen to give him a new home, the Eels claim a breakdown in negotiations makes the switch futile.

The Eels are now locked in legal proceedings against Lomax who Tripp has tried to defend.

“The world now sees Zac (Lomax) as a guy who deliberately walked out on Parramatta with bad intentions,” Tripp told News Corp.

“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.”

As the situation continues to decline, SEN's Mat Rogers suggests a year out of the game may teach Lomax a valuable lesson in loyalty and to listen to advice from people in the know.

It's not the first time Lomax has defected from a contract, having previously asked for a release from his Dragons deal in 2024.

“This is the exact situation V’landys said would happen when he talked about R360 and it’s happened to Zac Lomax,” Rogers said.

“Matt Tripp, I understand his desire to get Lomax, but I don’t think he has a leg to stand on.

“Parramatta are going to get burnt here. Lomax was a big part of their team. They granted him a release, he was released well before Jonah Pezet so the claim of salary cap to make that happen isn’t true.

“This will cost everyone a bomb, Lomaz and the Eels.

“It’s a difficult situation. Maybe he does need to sit out a year and realise you just can’t keep walking out on clubs."