There's a bit of an assessment
rlHERErl

And some highlights rlHERErl

Sorry Sep. I’ve made a few comments on Facebook but not here yet.
I am very, very happy with the signing of Matt Moylan. I have seen a lot of him over the last couple of season at Cronulla and got instantly excited when his name was first floated. I was not as excited about Milford to be honest as he has been a hot and cold player all season. We don’t need hot and cold, we need a quality 6, who will be an equal threat to Lam when they split, and a perfect foil when they go together. Moylan is that guy.
He has been an almost ever present at standoff for The Sharks over the last two seasons, which is what counts for me, Some people have been posting about his injury issues, but his playing record in the last two seasons is totally contrary to what some have said, and it speaks for itself. He missed just a couple of games in 2022 when the Sharks finished 2nd, and 3-4 games in 2023 when the Sharks finished 6th. He was first choice stand-off for the entirety of 2022, and for the first 16 games of 2023, until he picked up an injury. He missed a couple of games but then returned to the 17, for the rest of the season, starting from the bench. The other question has been his defence. Again in the last couple of seasons I have not seen huge concerns myself.
Full disclosure, he did look a different player for a couple of seasons prior to the last two seasons, and did have recurring injury problems (hamstring and calf) but a change of coach to Craig Fitzgibbon reignited his game, and I get the impression that Fitzgibbon’s style of player management and team building is very similar to our very own A Lam.
Moylan was/is also a very accomplished fullback (earlier in career) but he has been more seen in the stand-off position in recent years.
L Lam will love the lesser attention that will have to come with Moylan on the field as well, and our backs and fast running forwards, will love his ball distribution and especially his delayed balls and cutout passes. He’s done it all in the NRL, including Captain, State of Origin and was also a member of the Australian squad at one point.
In the photos of him in the gym and on the training pitch since he arrived, show a trim and smiling player.
My opening statement of a “very, very happy” Leyther is maybe even an understatement. I loved Ben Reynolds as he always gave 100%, and I believe became his best self in the last couple of seasons. I heartily thanks him for all he has done. Moylan however is in my mind, the next level we have sometimes lacked in the 6 shirt.

Which thread, and page Jack?

Cokey, save you the hardwork (busy little beavers those Wakey fans).

"Pat Bateman wrote:
Quality signing that in my opinion. Spooks the forums Sharks expert, be interesting to get his opinion."

"I've always admired Matty and was thrilled when he signed for the Sharkies ... honestly though, he has never really fired in a sharks shirt.. on occasion he can be brilliant... but those occasions have been few and far between for a couple of seasons now. He's been a player I've always been excited to see on the team sheet but usually a bit disappointed by his performance.

He's probably an upgrade for Leigh on Reynolds but (IMO) he's no longer a game changing star.

his signing also perpetuates that SL is an NRL retirement village."

Thanks, Vanners, much happier now. A good player does not go bad in one season. His highlights reel from 2022 is amazing. I hope A Lam can get the best from him. Does he play Left or Right or both? I kind of like having midfield generals who can terrorise both sides, although L Lam is particularly suited to the Left, even though he appears to be left-handed.

injury record is a concern will he be vfm at 5/6 times what we was paying Ben
have we spent all us dinner money we could do with a direct running centre.
can our aged back line repeat the heroics of last year history says odds against

TBF - recruitment could still be ongoing, and i'm sure the club will know which key positions they need to strengthen.

He definitely can play both sides/ways and he is not afraid to take a hit to get a delayed pass just right for the runner. He will in my opinion make us much more of a threat both ways.
With regards to injury concerns, there are no guarantees and he is definitely the high side of 30, but his last 2 season in the NRL have shown him to be resilient in the highest intensity league in the world. With Joe Mellor still in the ranks also, we do have a backup for him and/or Lam.

Agreed Cokey.
Derek has not come this far to stop now.

Hi Cokey.
Many apologies for not responding sooner to your post - I have been away for a couple of days and I am just catching up on what's been said on this forum but I see that Septi has already kindly responded with cutting and pasting the exact views of the Wakey fan on Matty that I was referring to - thanks Septi

Cheers Jack just caught up on it.

Come on Cokey, do keep up.

Why Adrian Lam signed Matt Moylan to take Leigh Leopards ‘to the next level’

REJUVENATED coach Adrian Lam is ready to make his third pre-season at Leigh the most effective yet as he prepares to prove the doubters wrong by sharpening the Leopards’ claws even further.

The 53-year-old is back on a chilly training ground after returning from Australia, where he had a short sunshine break after assisting Kangaroos chief Mal Meninga at the Pacific Championship.

It was something of a busman’s holiday for Lam, who has held his Australia position since 2016 and he credits Meninga, with whom he worked when previously in charge of Papua New Guinea, with playing a key role in his development as a coach.

For he took an internal flight for a one-to-one meeting with Matt Moylan, the former Australia, New South Wales and Penrith Panthers player, who was persuaded to leave Cronulla Sharks with a year of his contract still to run to become Leigh’s new stand-off.

The 32-year-old was the eighth addition for the Leopards in the wake of this year’s Challenge Cup triumph and appearance in the play-offs, twelve months after winning promotion to Super League in ex-Wigan coach Lam’s first season at the helm.

Leigh have also recruited halfback or hooker Ben McNamara from Hull, centre prospect Jack Darbyshire from Warrington and forwards Lewis Baxter (St Helens), Louis Brogan (Swinton), Dan Norman (St Helens), Kavan Rothwell (Wigan) and Owen Trout (Huddersfield).

And, while pleased with all the club’s business, Lam reckons Moylan will have a particularly important part to play in pushing the ambitious club even further forward.

“There are some people saying this year was a one-off, that we got lucky, but that’s fine, we will just keep working hard to prove them wrong,” he said.

“We have definitely strengthened the squad, and we are definitely ahead of where we were this time last year.

“But we know we have to keep our feet on the ground, stay focused and make the absolute most of what is a short pre-season to bond and prepare ourselves to power on.

“I was really pleased to be able to convince Matt to come over, because he was ready to stay and fight for a place at Cronulla.

“I have coached him with Australia, so I understand what he’s about and what he can bring. He will suit our team and I think his style will suit Super League.

“There have been a few questions about his age, but that experience is something I think will be important.

“What Matt brings as both a player and a person can help take us to the next level as a team.”

If Moylan is a better player than the player he is replacing namely, Ben Reynolds, then there is a very good chance that the Leigh team will be a notch or two better then we were last season and, let's face it, we were pretty good most of the time.

I trust that Lammy knows his man and would not have made such a big personal effort to get his signing over the line if he did not rate him as a player. I'm pretty confident that he is right in this judgment of the player, and perhaps more importantly, of the man himself.

I also don't think that there will be a great amount of pressure on Moylan to star right from game one - although it would be great if he did. The creative spine of the team from last season, O'Brien, Lam, Asiata, Edwin is still in place and the team will tick along nicely without Mylan necessarily having to be immediately the creative fulcrum. I think this will work to his and the team's advantage. The fireworks will hopefully come later.