Andrew Webster in The Australian
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/tripp-of-the-tongue-peter-vlandys-denies-favouritism-towards-melbourne-storm-and-zac-lomax/news-story/414f948cb92878c7c7f6022ac4083bee
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys has slammed talk he wants rugby league outcast Zac Lomaxto join the Melbourne Storm as a favour to their chairman, bookmaker Matt Tripp, declaring: “If there’s one person I wouldn’t help, it would be him.”
As Parramatta and Lomax head towards a showdown in the NSW Supreme Court on March 2, all sorts of theories are getting around about why the NRL has seemingly pitted itself against the Eels.
One is looming broadcast negotiations. A strong Storm is critical. The other is V’landys helping Tripp because of their long-term relationship through racing. Eels officials are conscious of it, even if they haven’t expressed it publicly.
“Matt Tripp took me all the way to the High Court in the race-fields case, which has generated billions of dollars for racing,” V’landys told his column in a lengthy interview this week. “He’s the last person I’d help.”
The Eels are sceptical. They’re expected to argue in court that a phone hook-up involving V’landys, Tripp, Beach, and RLPA boss Clint Newton was more “ambush” than mediation. They will also tell the court the Storm were privy to possible salary cap implications if they did not release Lomax – information that could only have come from the NRL.
From the very beginning of this dispute, their rich leagues club has told Beach and chief executive Jim Sarantinos that it will back them until the bitter end.
Why should they cave in? Lomax told them he wanted a release from the final three years of his deal to play in a competition that appears to have been conceived on the back of a beer coaster.
If Lomax was naive enough to walk away from one contract without any real certainty around the R360 competition, it’s on him.
V’landys bristles at the claim he’s sided with the Storm in this dispute.
“I’m not keen for Zac Lomax to join Melbourne,” he insisted. “He can join whatever club that wants him. If the Wests Tigers want him, I’d be just as happy for him to go them. Or if Manly want him. I just don’t want Zac Lomax to be lost to rugby league.”
Replies
Well if there is clear cut evidence ( emails, texts, phone calls, etc...) then how can he deny these allegations with a clear conscience. I'm sure the Eels legal team are not that incompetent to claim these allegations without any evidence.
Phone calls are harder as you can't prove what was said unless it was tapped. Emails and the rest yeah. Parra had this in their back pocket for a while and were waiting for the final nail to drop and them threatening us with cap penalties was the straw.
Beach and Sarantinos are heavily on top of all this, they would have save everything they could.
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