In the wake of the abrupt exits of footy stars Ryan Papenhuyzen and Zac Lomax, following speculation about Payne Haas's shrouded future, the messages sent across the media boardrooms all seem to contain the same name: R360 is our culprit.
The rebel competition was greeted with controversy, with the union and the NRL itself imposing consequences on players caught dealing with them. In the NRL, this comes with a 10-year, career-jeopardising ban from the competition.
No player has yet had the ban imposed upon them, yet with unexpected exits of a select few players confirmed in the off-season, the media continues to jump to conclusions over where they seem to be headed.
In this article, we will follow the predicted futures of three main players: Ryan Papenhuyzen, Payne Haas and Zac Lomax, three players that the NRL community have held their breath for, in anticipation of their final decisions.
Ryan Papenhuyzen
The flying mullet of the Melbourne Storm has not yet communicated any formal plans beyond the vague quote that he wished to “explore life beyond rugby league”.
His exit came as a shock to the rugby league community, with the media instantly taking advantage of this and linking his exit to a potential R360 call-up.
It's safe to say that while nothing about R360 has been confirmed, Ryan Papenhuyzen will not be returning to the NRL in 2026.
Yet as far as speculation goes, Papenhuyzen has proven to be an NRL fairy-tale favourite. His brilliant career, where talent, paired with his dual-eligibility for Australia and the Netherlands national sides, has seen him emerging through the ranks as perhaps one of the NRL's most promising players.
Switching codes, joining R360, in a move that would be understandable coming from a 23-year-old NSW Cup player, with doubts of high-level success in the NRL, struggling with financial burdens, this move makes absolutely no sense in Papi's case.
The Melbourne playmaker is essentially throwing away a well-formed, valuable career for some little extra money on the table. And while his whole exit made little sense to start, his career alone implies that Papenhuyzen is unlikely to move to R360.
Payne Haas
Like Papenhuyzen, Payne Haas's response to questions from various media sources have been described as “vague and cryptic”. Unlike Papenhuyzen however, there has been no confirmed rumours of an exit.
Haas has given an answer in which direct confirmation was absent, yet has been the subject of speculative headlines for the whole week, at the time of writing.
Similar to Papenhuyzen, Haas's career appears on a very promising trajectory, with a recent premiership to his name, representing multiple sides in international football, as well as the Blues in State of Origin. Other than money, there is quite literally nothing to lose by giving a direct “no” to R360.
Zac Lomax
Of the three players mentioned, Lomax's chances of joining R360 seems highest. Having played for lower-ranked clubs like the Dragons and Eels for the majority of his career, it's understandable for him to be chasing bigger dreams and a thicker wallet.
Lasting only one season in his four-year deal with Parramatta, the exit came as a wild surprise for the rugby league community.
Yet Lomax has been warned by the NRL community, in a caring, as opposed to spiteful way, that given Lomax joins R360 and should R360 fail financially, Lomax could be in a spot of trouble. Like all players associated with the league, they will not be compensated for a career they signed away previously.
So, will the Parramatta winger risk it? Like most things when it comes to R360, nobody knows for sure, yet we do always have to be prepared for the worst.
One thing all three players have in common, is that their recent, unconfirmed decisions have found their way into the most-viewed headlines, with the words “speculation”, “R360” and “rumours” in the same sentence.
These articles have caused wave after wave of panic, linked to R360 movements.
But here's the real question: How likely will it be for these players – especially the bigger names we've seen in the past few days – to throw away everything and join R360 for their big moneybags?
Despite all that's been said, Rugby360 is still rugby union. ‘90s Super League war isn't a thing anymore. Code-switching popularity have certainly died down since then. R360 themselves will definitely be looking into professional union players anytime before they even get serious about poaching NRL ones.
And to be fair, where there's one league player considering the switch, there's at least thirty more from Super Rugby queueing up at your front door. It's a sad demographic, but rugby union most certainly offers a more diverse selection.
I reckon the majority of NRL players themselves have no attraction to R360. Maybe some juniors coming through reserve grade and Jersey Flegg, whose future in the NRL are yet to be decided, may wish to make a quick buck before their time runs out.
However, with players who have dedicated many years of their lives to the competition and potentially see themselves in a high-ranking position, a formal commitment to a league where success is debatable, at the expense of their well-laden careers, may just cross the risk boundary line.
The media talks it up time and again, because panic drives views and views drive money. A week-long headlines featuring the words “secret meetings”, “bombshell” and “Zac Lomax” generates more revenue than something along the lines of “Zac Lomax disappears off Eels roster and now we don't know where he's going”.
So ultimately, how much of a threat is R360? R360 is a growing potential that will unpredictably go either way.
It's been the conversation of the rugby community ever since its first announcement. But in terms of threat, this article has evaluated its potential effects on the NRL, but at the end of the day, when there has been no confirmation whatsoever, it helps to remember that sometimes, even the media wants a little extra money…
Cynthia, that is the best-written piece on R360 and NRL players that I have read.
One thing that you may know about, which never seems to hit any newsfeeds that I see, is who – if anyone – R360 has signed from Rugby Union. Either from Australia, or from the rest of the world.
If R360 were regularly announcing the signing of players (even just the number of players) then we could get a sense of how well the organisation was building towards its goals, and how CREDIBLE it is as a potential source of employment for big-name NRL players.
@Im Notwrong
Thank you so much for your comment! As an aspiring NRL journalist, you don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say that this is the “best-written piece on R360”. Obviously, I didn’t think this at the time, but hearing this from you means the world to me.
Yeah your point makes sense – it’s true that I didn’t really know about it because I don’t really follow rugby union signings and everything.
I was never supportive of R360 – I did think it was a growing potential that COULD become the next big thing in rugby (such as ODI cricket), but the chances of this happening – especially when professional means of employment are introducing these 10-year bans and whatnot – are very, very slim.
Like I said, it’s probably just the media playing things up for cash but I highly, highly doubt Paps or Payno or even Lomax ends up going to R360.