On the eve of the semi-finals and an elimination game for the Penrith Panthers, it seems strange that their star play maker Matt Moylan is, according to Phil Gould, being rested to deal with personal issues.

The Penrith Panthers were the hottest team in Rugby League following their 2016 season. All the experts had them in their top four. And the hottest player in the hottest team of the competition was Matt Moylan.

A Breakout Year

In a breakout year (2016) Matt Moylan represented his state, his country and also took over captaincy of the Panthers.

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So convinced were the Panthers that Moylan was the player to build a club around; at the beginning of 2017 he was signed to a 4 year deal that would hopefully go on to make Moylan a Panther for life.

Trouble at the Club

It all came to head this week with reports surfacing that there is unrest between the five eighth and the administration, including Anthony Griffin the coach.

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It is without question that the mental health and well being of any player is paramount. In a press conference today Gould was quoted as saying:

“Sometimes these things only take a few days, sometimes they take a long time. I don’t think it’s overly major but we have noticed some things that have been out of character from Matt over the last month or so.”

If you look at the season of Matt Moylan, it appears this has been brewing for more than the last month.

Disciplinary Action

In April of this year Matt Moylan was stood down for breaching team curfew. Although he retained his captaincy, reports were that the pressure of the top job was too much for Moylan. He felt it thrust on him too soon.

Throughout an injury plagued season, reports have also surfaced that Matt Moylan does not see eye to eye with his coach Anthony Griffin. As early as the end of July there were whispers that Moylan would be searching for a new club in 2018.

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The Meeting

The saga came to head 24 hours before the Panthers do or die clash with Manly. It was when Matt Moylan met with Griffin and Gould. The whispers from the meeting are that Moylan has not been attending all of his rehabilitation sessions. And he has been asked to step up. The result of the meeting is that Moylan has been granted leave from Penrith. And that he will take no further part in season 2017.

The firm message from the club is that Moylan is committed to staying.

“We signed him for five years only 12 months ago and we certainly want that to be the case...” (Gould).

Is Matt Moylan Exploring Other Options

Could this be a case of Moylan being ‘rested’ so that he can explore other options? If it came out of the meeting over the weekend that Moylan doesn’t want to stay at Penrith long term, he might have been told not to worry about finishing the season. And they would sort the rest out at season’s end.

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The history over the last 6 or 7 months indicates that this isn’t an isolated incident. And that perhaps Moylan doesn’t want to be there. And if you were the GM of football operations and the coach, the very thing you would be trying to do would be to bury this as quick as possible. So your team could concentrate on finals football.

by Darrin Seath – contributor