In a NSW Supreme Court corridor rather than a courtroom, the NRL's most contentious off-season saga reached its conclusion on Tuesday. Parramatta Eels officials and Melbourne Storm representatives brokered an out-of-court settlement that leaves 26-year-old winger Zac Lomax unable to join Melbourne, or any other NRL club, without the Eels' written consent until 2028.
The resolution, reported by both ABC News and ESPN, carries a sharp financial sting for Melbourne. The Storm will pay $250,000 in legal costs to Parramatta, the price of a months-long pursuit that ultimately went nowhere. It is a significant outcome for a club that spent weeks lobbying, negotiating, and reportedly urging NRL head office to help clear the path for Lomax's signature.
The origins of the dispute trace back to November 2025, when Parramatta agreed to release Lomax from the remaining three years of his $700,000-a-year contract. The condition, registered with the NRL, was explicit: he would not return to any rival NRL club before the end of 2028 without the Eels' consent. Lomax had indicated his ambition was to join the proposed breakaway rugby union competition R360. When that competition failed to launch, Lomax found himself without a club and without an obvious path back to league.
Melbourne moved quickly to fill the gap. The Storm, already facing a back-line crisis after star winger Xavier Coates was ruled out until round ten with injury, made repeated approaches to Parramatta. According to ESPN, the Eels knocked back three separate compensation offers, including a final package worth $300,000 that included $211,000 in salary-cap relief. The Storm also declined Parramatta's preference for a player swap, refusing to offer high-profile players such as Jack Howarth, Stefano Utoikamanu, or Xavier Coates in return.
With negotiations stalled, Parramatta launched legal action in the NSW Supreme Court in January, seeking to enforce the restraint clause. Lomax's lawyers challenged the clause's validity, arguing it may amount to an unlawful restraint of trade, particularly given that R360 was now effectively on hold until at least 2028.
The matter came to a head this week. When proceedings were due to begin on Monday, lawyers for both sides requested more time to keep talking, with Lomax's barrister Adam Casselden SC telling Justice Francois Kunc the parties were "very close" to a resolution. By Tuesday morning, with the judge insisting a hearing would begin if no deal was reached, an agreement was finalised. Lomax did not enter the courtroom.
Eels chief executive Jim Sarantinos made no attempt to soften the club's position. His club, he said, had demonstrated it would not be "steamrolled." In a statement released after the settlement, the Parramatta Eels said Melbourne had never made an offer that provided appropriate value, and that the club remained open to working with Lomax and his agent to find an NRL home, provided any deal returned fair compensation to Parramatta's football programme. That could mean a player trade or significant salary-cap relief, though the club has indicated a cash payment alone is unlikely to be acceptable unless it can be applied directly to the salary cap.
Chairman Matthew Beach added that the club had always been prepared to consider a deal that would strengthen the side. The sub-text was clear enough: Parramatta was never opposed to Lomax playing rugby league again; they simply wanted fair market value for a representative-level winger they had invested in.
From a contractual integrity standpoint, Parramatta's position is coherent. Clubs and players operate within a framework of legally registered agreements, and the precedent set by allowing players to exit signed deeds without meaningful compensation would undermine that framework for every club in the competition. The NRL itself was reportedly drawn into the proceedings after Parramatta alleged Melbourne had asked league headquarters to pressure the Eels into relenting.
That said, Lomax's situation does raise legitimate questions about restraint-of-trade law in professional sport. He left under the genuine belief he was heading to a different code altogether. With R360 delayed indefinitely, the clause effectively bars him from earning a living in the sport he knows best. His lawyers had a credible argument, even if the settlement means it will never be tested by Justice Kunc's judgment.
For Lomax personally, the human cost is measured not in dollars but in months of uncertainty, missed pre-season preparation, and a season that has now begun without him. At 26, with NSW State of Origin experience and international caps to his name, the clock is ticking. A switch to rugby union remains an option, according to multiple reports, though that path carries its own complications given the international unions' stance on R360-aligned players.
As a pointed postscript to the whole affair, the Eels and Storm meet on Thursday night in Melbourne's season opener. Sarantinos, with evident dry humour, told reporters a win there would be "a nice way to wrap this whole thing up." Whatever the scoreboard shows, Parramatta already claimed the result that mattered most to them this week.