Wayne Bennett has ruled out South Sydney striking a deal to sign Zac Lomax, insisting it's time the star winger lives with the consequences of his controversial exit from Parramatta.
Parramatta and Melbourne reached an out-of-court settlement on Tuesday that blocked Lomax's planned move to the Storm, four months after the Eels released him to join subsequently postponed rugby competition R360.
Lomax had in November agreed he would only join an NRL rival for the remainder of his original Eels contract with the consent of Parramatta, who are still open to striking a deal with a rival club.
Any NRL return in the next two years would likely involve a swap deal, or the interested club agreeing to help the Eels shift money out of their salary cap by taking on another player as well.
Asked point-blank on Saturday whether Souths had any interest in entering the market for Lomax, coach Bennett was unequivocal.
"No," he said.
During his time in NRL limbo, Lomax has found an ally in Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V'landys, who had been prepared to wipe the 10-year NRL ban he threatened to impose on players defecting to R360.
In leaked text messages during the legal saga, Storm chair Matt Tripp had urged the NRL to weigh in and ensure a "win for the game" by assisting in bring NSW winger Lomax back to the game.
But Bennett, preparing to coach his 39th NRL season, said no player should be treated as bigger than the sport.
"I'm not going to bend rules and make rules for individual players," he said.
"The game has withstood so much pressure over a long period of time. I've been here that long, I've seen the best players the game's ever seen play.
"They've all moved on and we've still got a great game. The minute we think we can't be successful without a certain player, we're in a lot of trouble."
Lomax was pictured leaving Rugby Australia headquarters this week with a move to the 15-man code still on the table.
The 26-year-old had attracted Super Rugby interest following R360's postponement, but would be on far less money with an Australian rugby union franchise than his $700,000 Eels salary.
Switching to overseas rugby union would likely prove more lucrative.
Bennett felt it was time for Lomax to accept the consequences of his release from the Eels.
"We want to see good players (in the NRL) and he's one of those but he's made a choice. He has to live with it," he said.
