Explosive courtroom documents obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald has revealed that the Melbourne Storm asked the NRL to "apply the blow torch" to Parramatta to release Zac Lomax.
A slew of documents released in the Supreme Court revealed that during a phone call between Storm chair Matt Tripp and Eels supremo Matthew Beach on January 13, that the Eels again rejected a $200,000 release fee.
“During the telephone call, Mr Tripp referred to the possibility of punitive steps being taken by the NRL against Parramatta Eels in relation to its salary cap if Parramatta Eels did not agree to the proposal being put forward by the Melbourne Storm,” according to a document the Eels tendered to the court.
“This assertion by the Melbourne Storm was intended or had the tendency to exert pressure on the Parramatta Eels in circumstances where the NRL had never communicated such a stance to the Parramatta Eels.”
It was further revealed that an alleged text from Storm CEO Justin Rodski to NRL CEO Andrew Abdo on January 21 was used to try and have the NRL pressure the Eels into a release.
“Hi Andrew, not getting anywhere at this point, can you apply the blow torch on parramatta [sic] to get this done.
Rodski added: “Lomax staying in the NRL is obviously a win for the game.”
It's what we always suspected. The Storm trying to bully their way into a deal that would favour them. They should be expelled from the competition.
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There could be far more to come.
The SMH pointed out,"The documents (via court discovery) don’t reveal how the $211,000 would result in salary cap relief."
This is fascinating to watch. Watch Abdo come out first and say nothing really, except to support the legal process.
Will this now overshadow the season opener?
A PR disaster whichever way you look at it.
For everything vlandys said about 360 being a cereal box comp, this has every characteristic of something straight out a cereal box. Comical.
I can't wait for Trippster to have another cry about us leaking.
He came out the gate warning us about leaks, because he knew we may get our hands on some radioactive material, stuff that generates it's own heat and all who touch it are damaged.
He was right, but we are taking their radiating material and crafting it into a weapon
So Lomax asked for a release on Dally M night.
Remember what Lomax said when he was interviewed
Nah, not at all,” Lomax said, when asked at The Dally M Awards if there was anything he wanted to say about R360.
I mean, I’m contracted at the Eels for another three years.
I’ve loved my time there and I’m loving every second of it.”
t’s alleged that in a phone call between Storm chair Matt Tripp and Eels counterpart Matthew Beach on January 13, that the latter again rejected a $200,000 transfer fee.....“During the telephone call, Mr Tripp referred to the possibility of punitive steps being taken by the NRL against Parramatta ...so Tripps idea of negotiating to avoid painful revelations in court was to offer us 200k again, but wrapped in a threat Tripp must have considered the threat strong enough to work or he would not have tried to pull this shit, the entitled victorian Prick....I am starting to really like Matt Beach and Jim. We need to be a tight unit, to have solidarity...and we do They are Leading, which is different to just being a leader
I'm starting to respect our higher ups for not folding, going up against the storms, Lomax and the NRL shows strong leadership that hasn't been seen since the 80s or Brian smith era.
Valndys has it in for us for some reason. We never had a fair draw since 2019.
And this is the sort of thing I had hoped would come out in discovery
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