Rugby league’s most powerful figure has sprung to the defence of Zac Lomax, raising concerns about the star winger’s mental state and claiming no player – save for South Sydney’s Latrell Mitchell – has ever endured a greater public pile-on.
Parramatta commenced legal proceedings to prevent Lomax from joining the Storm, given his release from a four-year contract was contingent on the Eels providing written consent. The Blues winger was granted a release to join rebel competition R360, but has been left in limbo after its inaugural season was put back until 2028.
Blues brothers: Zac Lomax and Latrell Mitchell at NSW training last year.Credit: Janie Barrett
The stoush between the Eels and Lomax has taken a nasty turn, with the Storm allegedly threatening the Eels that the NRL could impose punitive steps relating to its salary cap if Parramatta didn’t accept their compensation offer.
The parties have been unable to reach a settlement. The hearing is scheduled to conclude after the Storm’s season opener against the Eels on March 5. While Lomax has fielded offers to play rugby elsewhere after his R360 plans fell through, they were rejected after they were for less than half his previous base Eels salary of $700,000.
After being released from contracts with the Dragons and Eels in successive seasons, Lomax has been painted as disloyal by rugby league pundits and some fans on social media. Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys said Lomax had unfairly been painted as a “villain”.
“I’m very concerned about his mental wellbeing,” V’landys said.
“The pressure that’s put upon him is unparalleled in what I’ve seen at the moment.
“The only other one I’ve seen as much as this at the moment is Latrell Mitchell.
“People don’t understand that these guys have got families, they are human … I can tell you his mental state of health is not good, he’s not coping well with all of this.
ALRC chairman Peter V’landys.Credit: Getty
“You’ve got to remember this is a human being, like all the rest of us … They might not agree with what he’s done, but you don’t know his perspective. I know the character of the bloke, he’s a good person.”
South Sydney star Mitchell has also been a lightning rod for controversy throughout his career. V’landys revealed his reasons for supporting Lomax.
“I want to get out there what his character is like because he’s painted like this villain – and he’s not,” he said.
“When he first got to St George Illawarra, he was just a fringe first-grader. I got a phone call from someone to say there is a kid with brain cancer who is a mad Dragons supporter – was I able to organise a player to see them?
“We are always happy to do these things behind the scenes, so I rang the club personally and asked them to help me out. They said, ‘No problem, we’ll send an up-and-coming player called Zac Lomax.’
“I was aware of Zac, being a Dragons supporter, and said that would be fantastic. He was only going to be able to stay for half an hour and would drive from Wollongong to Newcastle, which is a three-and-a-half-hour drive, a seven-hour drive all up.
“Zac drove up there and he didn’t spend half an hour, he spent the whole day with the kid. That showed me the character of the bloke. So when he’s copping all this flak, you’ve got to remember there is a human being underneath.”
In the legal fight between the Eels and Storm, Parramatta is claiming Melbourne was pressuring the NRL to “apply the blow torch” and ensure the 26-year-old was wearing a purple jersey for the season opener.
There have also been calls for the NRL to ban Lomax for 10 years after head office stated that’s the punishment they would mete out to anyone committing to R360.
“Everyone says I’ve done a backflip – I said if they signed a contract and played for them, there would be a 10-year ban,” V’landys said.
“He hasn’t signed a contract – he might have signed an intention – and he hasn’t played for them.
“He’s done neither as far as we’re aware, unless the court case finds something else … the commission hasn’t backflipped.”
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Most Viewed in Sport
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
