Lomax legal stoush with Eels takes another twist

Melbourne could be dragged into the courtroom stoush between Parramatta and Zac Lomax, which could delay the star winger’s bid to have the matter finalised in time for him to debut for the Storm against his former club in the opening round of the NRL season.

The Eels have commenced Supreme Court legal action against Lomax, with the case originally set to be heard on February 12th and 13th. During a directions hearing on Tuesday, the Eels raised the prospect of that timeline blowing out until after round one, particularly if there is another party to proceedings.

Zac Lomax’s future remains uncertain.Credit: Getty Images

An agreed term of Lomax’s release from Parramatta is that the footballer can’t join another NRL club before October 31, 2028 without the club’s express written consent. So far the parties haven’t been able to agree on terms that would present suitable compensation, despite the Storm offering to pay the Eels $300,000, a figure that can’t be added to their salary cap.

Lawyers acting on behalf of Lomax indicated they would contend that, if the court finds that Lomax’s contract is binding and Parramatta’s restraint is valid, they will allege the Eels are acting unreasonably and not in good faith in withholding consent.

Should Lomax be required to file a cross-claim to make those allegations, proceedings would likely widen to include negotiations between the Eels and Storm.

That would prompt Parramatta to consider which evidence to put forward about those talks, which could result in subpoenas being issued or the Storm becoming a party to proceedings. Either way, Storm chairman Matt Tripp is likely to be called for the hearing.

“Let’s call a spade a shovel, I don’t feel we’re going to be having this hearing on the 12th,” Justice François Kunc said, before indicating he was open-minded as to when the matter will be heard.

Lomax’s barrister, Adam Casselden SC, was pushing for the matter to be heard as scheduled, describing Lomax as “an elite athlete” and said he “needs some certainty for what his future looks like.”

Eels barrister Arthur Moses told the court the Storm appeared to act as if Lomax’s signing was a fait au accompli after his mooted switch to Rugby 360 fell through.

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“Your honour, of course that was an unsanctioned global franchise-based rugby union competition, which was to create a rival league to traditional rugby with, one might say, a unicorn proposal big of money and promises featuring [playing] overseas,” Moses said.

“What we do know now, your honour, from documents that have been [produced] via subpoena is that he entered into a provisional contract with R360 conditional on him securing a release from the club.

“What we also know from the documents that have been subpoenaed is that prior to the Melbourne Storm approaching Parramatta for discussions to get consent that he [was in talks to] play for the Melbourne Storm in the competition this year, they had entered into, in effect, a contract that had been placed on the NRL portal, something called Gateway, prior to the Melbourne Storm approaching Parramatta.”

Moses added that documents produced by Lomax’s manager in relation to rugby offers had their financial details redacted, but could be relevant to the case.

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