Eels demand one of three Storm stars in exchange for Zac Lomax

Parramatta have identified Xavier Coates, Stefano Utoikamanu or Jack Howarth as the three players they are prepared to take in exchange for allowing Zac Lomax to join the Melbourne Storm.

Lomax was granted a release from the Eels in November in the hope he would land a lucrative deal with the breakaway Rugby 360, only for the rebel competition to delay its launch date until 2028.

And given one of the terms of Lomax’s release from the Eels was that he could not play for a rival NRL club without their permission, the representative flyer has been forced to delay any move south until Parramatta are compensated.

Eels chief executive Jim Sarantinos is not prepared to budge on Lomax, saying on Thursday: “I don’t see why we should be disadvantaged in that situation.”

The Storm have already parted ways with Ryan Papenhuyzen and Nelson Asofa-Solomona, who were granted early releases from their contracts, Jonah Pezet, who joined the Eels, and Grant Anderson, who has signed with Broncos. Eli Katoa will miss the 2026 season after underwent emergency surgery due to several head knocks before and during a Pacific Championships game for Tonga.

Melbourne are keen to sign Lomax, are one of the few clubs with money in the salary cap and can afford him, and need depth in their outside backs. Winger Will Warbrick was restricted to just seven games last season due to concussion symptoms, Nick Meaney is off to Perth next year, while Papenhuyzen’s No.1 replacement, Sua Fa’alogo, is hugely talented, but not expected to play every game in 2026 due to concerns about the physical and mental load that would put on him.

Storm CEO Justin Rodski defended the club’s pursuit of Lomax when the matter was raised at the club chief executives’ phone hook-up with the NRL on Wednesday. Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed several rival clubs had also made informal inquiries about signing the 26-year-old.

The same sources confirmed on Thursday that Howarth, Coates and Utoikamanu were the three players the Eels had identified as potential replacements. All three are off contract at the end of next season.

Coates is an excellent representative winger, Howarth is a classy centre whose early injury in the grand final last year cruelled the Storm, while Utoikamanu finished the year one of the form props, and is a western Sydney local who spent time with the Eels as a junior.

Melbourne, however, are not prepared to release any more top-line players, especially given the off-season exodus, and have only nominated a few fringe players as options. They are also prepared to offer Parramatta financial compensation in the hope the Eels free Lomax in the coming weeks, especially with the trials a matter of weeks away.

Lomax has been keeping himself fit behind the scenes, but will no doubt need at least a month to build some on-field combinations at the Storm.

Given Lomax has another decade at best to make the most of his sporting career, some clubs are wondering if he pursues legal options if forced to sit out this season. There is no appetite from Lomax or the Eels to reunite. Sources were quick to point out Lomax quit the Eels in the hope of switching codes, not NRL clubs.

Sarantinos would not comment on the pursuit of the Storm trio, but said: “We agreed to certain terms with Zac as conditions of the release to allow him the opportunity to explore other options outside the NRL.

“We made sure there were certain protections within the release for the period he was supposed to be under contract with us, and he willingly signed up for that.

“Things obviously haven’t worked out the way he was expecting them to, and he is now looking at other opportunities within the NRL.

“As far as we’re concerned, we won’t be consenting to him signing with another club unless there’s an appropriate exchange of value.

“We have had a representative player leave our roster who now wants to join another club’s roster.”