Lomax asks Eels to let him leave to join rebel rugby comp

Zac Lomax has told Parramatta powerbrokers he wants to leave early to take up a rich R360 rugby contract, just after Jason Ryles said the club will “have a serious think” about any internal release requests.

While the Eels don’t want Lomax to leave, especially considering they just signed him on $650K a season through to 2028, the club is open to entertaining the release as long as they get paid a significant fee by the rebel comp.

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That may well be the hinge the whole thing hangs on right now — Lomax is interested in going and thinks he can make a serious little pile of coin for two or three years in the competition before returning to the NRL, but R360 bosses have been quite stubborn about not paying exit fees (likely because the competition is already struggling to draw in cash).

It’s a bit of an odd one for the 26-year-old, considering he turned down his junior club St George Illawarra’s richer deal to take up his Eels opportunity. At the time, chat behind doors was money wasn’t a factor; for him to be chasing a massive payday just nine months later doesn’t align with that and may have suggested some reporting is just smoke.

But Lomax did make the release request, though informally, meaning there must be some interest for him in the rugby swap.

Elsewhere, NRL 360 host Braith Anasta has said he believes Lomax has “played his last game” for the Eels.

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Lomax has stayed quiet on the whole affair when speaking to the media, most recently telling reporters he was uninterested in talking about the R360 competition when at the Dally M awards. At the evening, he pointed out he was “contracted at the Eels for another three years… [and] I’ve loved my time there and I’m loving every second.”

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Beyond that, the St George Illawarra-come-Parramatta star winger has been keeping his head down; a wise move considering how much vitriol the Saudi-backed breakaway rugby comp has already copped in Aussie media just recently.

Recently, Lomax missed the Dally M team of the year behind fellow wingers Mark Nawaqanitawase and Xavier Coates.

He did, however, win the Provan Summons Medal, which focuses on “the spirit of the game.”