Legal war looms as Lomax, Eels take NRL contract stoush to the courts

Contract rebel Zac Lomax and his last signed club, the Parramatta Eels, are taking their standoff to the courts, with player and club now due to start legal action at the Supreme Court from February 12.

The Eels are expected to issue subpoenas to Lomax’s agent, Clinton Schifcofske, as well as his lawyer, Ramy Qutami, and the Melbourne Storm, for them to speak on the deal between Lomax and Parramatta last year. Also on the docket will be Melbourne’s approach, where the southern powerhouse told the Eels they’d pay them $200K for Lomax.

Win $500 Cash In Our Free Giveaway Here

Eels chairman Matthew Beach confirmed that it had started legal proceedings — and that it was disappointed things had come to that — after mediation failed to produce a resolution the Sydney club was happy with.

The deal had originally been signed between the State of Origin winger and his second NRL club (he had originally left the St George Illawarra Dragons two years early) that said he could leave to play rugby in R360, though that comp fell through.

Lomax then allegedly spoke to the Storm about immediately joining them for the 2026 preseason.

February’s legal action will revolve around what the Eels claim is an attempt by Lomax to breach the terms he signed in ’25 by trying to play for a rival club this year, spurred on by the fact that he may have been speaking to Melbourne about a playing spot. (Lomax’s deal with the Eels had stipulatedly he couldn’t join another NRL team before 2028.)

All that being said, Parramatta had still been happy to let him join the Storm in 2026 and beyond if they got something of equal value back — that being a star player who similarly represents his state in Origin or plays for his country. When those conversations fell through, Parramatta began looking into legal action to make sure Lomax honours his agreements.

“When we were approached by Storm, we engaged with them in good faith; however, we have not been able to come to an agreement that would represent sufficient value for our club, particularly for our football program,” Beach said.

Are you reading on our app? Download now for the best Sporting Base experience.

Win $500 Cash In Our Free Giveaway Here

In a summary of the case for Justice Michael Slattery, Parramatta’s lawyer Arthur Moses said Lomax had informed the Eels that it was his dream to sign for R360, before the competition had “become a bit of a mirage.” It was agreed that it was in the interests of both parties to deal with the matter quickly, as Lomax was very eager to play rugby union.

More NRL news

‘Always the end goal’: Hynes, Sharks hellbent on proving NRL haters wrong

Code switch: Crichton chasing Wallabies jersey for 2027 World Cup

Also noteworthy — Beach told the media last Thursday that the Eels would also consider a deal for technically-unsigned Lomax from any of the other fifteen clubs in the competition, as long as the deal is beneficial for Parramatta.

The Sporting Base hasn’t heard about any approaches from other teams for Lomax yet.

The Storm are set to play their first preseason match, against the Raiders, on that Friday during the court case.