‘Hoodwinked’: V’landys says Lomax welcome back in NRL – but don’t expect Eels reunion

3 months ago 18

Zac Lomax will not be re-uniting with Parramatta any time soon, despite being told he is free to return to the NRL after his proposed move to R360 collapsed.

The rebel rugby competition’s announcement on Friday night that it had pushed its start date back to 2028, having failed to secure the necessary investment for a proposed 2026 kick-off, has left Lomax in limbo – and out of pocket.

The NSW winger, who walked out on the Eels just 12 months into a four-year contract worth $700,000 a season, has failed to attract interest from French rugby clubs, while Japanese clubs have also filled their rosters for the start of their own season in the next fortnight.

Lomax could hope to be picked up by a Super Rugby club, but even then, he would have to settle for a deal worth around $150,000.

Under the terms of his exit from Parramatta, Lomax cannot join a rival NRL club until the end of 2028, when his Eels deal was due to expire. There is nothing stopping the Eels from offering Lomax a lesser deal, but he would require the club’s blessing to take up a contract elsewhere.

“Zac sought a release to pursue opportunities outside the NRL, which we granted him, and we wish him well with it,” Eels CEO Jim Sarantinos said. “Our focus is on the players who are at our club. We won’t be making any further comment.”

Zac Lomax starred for NSW in this year’s State of Origin series.

Peter V’landys has long been sceptical about R360 and questioned whether the competition had the financial backing to be a success. The ARL Commission chairman, who threatened ten-year bans for players and agents who held talks with R360, also warned NRL stars to seek a bank guarantee from the rebel league before signing a deal.

V’landys famously said he had concerns about “any competition that comes out of a cornflakes box”.

“There has been a run on cornflakes boxes – Coles and Woolies have run out,” V’landys said on Saturday.

“Zac and Ryan Papenhuyzen have signed no deals with R360, so of course they are welcome back to our game, absolutely they are. It’s sad they were hoodwinked by this mirage that was R360.

“Of course they are welcome back to our game. It’s sad they were hoodwinked by this mirage that was R360.”

Peter V’landys

“Administrating the game, you know what is required to run the game, how much revenue you need, and R360 were never going to get there. Their revenue model was flawed ... there was no way they were going to be able to play their players.

“To be fair to R360, they’ve basically come out and said they don’t have enough money, which was our belief from day one.”

Papenhuyzen quit the Melbourne Storm a few weeks before Lomax split with the Eels, but the fullback said from the outset he was unsure what his next move was, and whether he would even continue in professional sport.

Lomax was spotted training at the Wollongong gym of mixed martial arts star Alexander Volkanovski during the week, while he has also shown an interest in boxing.

The Eels trained for nearly three hours in front of devoted fans on a warm and blustery Saturday at Fairfield in western Sydney.

Mitchell Moses made a surprise early return to complete a few drills, while Junior Paulo was spotted on crutches after undergoing a clean out of his ankle. He is in no doubt for round one.

When asked whether Lomax would be welcomed back at the Eels, teammate Jack Williams said: “If he was to come back, we’d love it. He’s a great player, he’s an Origin player, a Test player, they’re hard to [replace] when they go.

“He’s always a competitor in our team. If he ends up coming back, we’d welcome him with open arms.

“We didn’t really know too much about what was going on. It looks like he’s been mixing it up with a few different things. He was doing a bit of MMA [mixed martial arts] ... boxing; we wish him all the best.”

Meanwhile, Angus Crichton remains committed to making the switch to rugby at the end of next year. Crichton has told his management he has no desire to play against the Sydney Roosters, which rules out a big-money move to the Perth Bears.