“The bigger issue for them now is if the league concedes and allows them to return [if R360 does not survive].
“Some of the people I’ve spoken to in the game are quite happy about the NRL’s ten-year ban. If R360 falls over, rugby will have two superstars unable to return [to league]. There will be a new home for them in Australia.
Zac Lomax has quit Parramatta and has been linked to R360Credit: Getty Images
“You could have half a dozen guys from the NRL unable to return. There’s the option to play in the provincial system [Super Rugby], then maybe go on to play for the Wallabies.”
Sources with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the NRL’s threat of 10-year bans had already convinced up to half a dozen players who had been weighing up a move to R360 to stay in league.
Rugby Australia has publicly stated that any player who joins R360 will not be picked for the Wallabies.
Lomax and Papenhuyzen have the option of chasing bigger paydays in French or Japanese rugby, but would need to remain in Australia to be eligible for the green and gold.
Mat Rogers in full for flight for the Wallabies in 2003.Credit: Steve Cristo
Rogers said Lomax could make a seamless transition onto the wing in the 15-man code, while Papenhuyzen had the ability to play fullback, No.10, or even No.12 in a “Matt Giteau-type role”.
Papenhuyzen is not tall, but Rogers said his speed was all that mattered. “Most small guys spend their entire careers making big guys look silly, which Papenhuyzen has done,” he said.
The biggest coup for R360 would be landing the signature of Broncos prop Haas, said Rogers. Haas has reportedly been offered up to $3 million a year to walk away from the NRL premiers.
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“Payne could play No.8, No.6, No 12, it wouldn’t matter what number you put on his back,” “Rogers said. “His mobility and size is on another level. There are players bigger than Payne in rugby, but none of them have the athleticism he has. Imagine him at No.12. He would be devastating in union.”
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys on Monday said on Monday: “I feel sorry for Zac, I feel sorry for Ryan Papenhuyzen, I think they’re being ill-advised, and they’re jeopardising their whole careers on wild promises.
“What I would be strongly recommending to them is to get irrevocable bank guarantees that they will actually get paid.”
