Matt Moylan
Matthew "Matt" Moylan is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL and Australia at international level.
He played for the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League. Moylan has played for NSW City, Prime Minister's XIII, NRL All Stars and New South Wales State of Origin sides.
Background
Moylan was born in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Australia.He played his junior football for the St Clair Comets and St. Patricks before being signed by the Penrith Panthers.
Playing career
Early career
Moylan played for the Panthers NYC team from 2009 to 2011.2012
Moylan played for the Windsor Wolves, the NSW Cup feeder team to the Panthers.2013
In round 7, Moylan made his NRL debut for the Panthers against the Parramatta Eels in a 44-12 victory at Penrith Stadium. He became Penrith's first-choice fullback. Moylan scored his first try in round 8 against the Sydney Roosters, losing 30-6 at the SFS. He was ruled out of a match in round 13, due to second-tier salary cap issues, but was available for selection the next week due to the injury of fullback Wes Naiqama. Moylan finished his debut year in the NRL with 13 matches, 3 tries and 2 goals. He was named Penrith's Rookie of the Year.2014
In February 2014, Moylan was selected in the Panthers inaugural 2014 Auckland Nines squad. In round 3, against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Moylan kicked a sideline goal to win the game for the Panthers 18-16 at the death when winger Kevin Naiqama scored in the 79th minute to tie the match up at match at 16-all at Penrith Stadium. Moylan was selected to play for the NSW City side in the City vs Country Origin match at Dubbo’s Apex Oval. Moylan played at fullback in the 26-all draw. In round 18, against the Brisbane Broncos at Penrith Stadium, he kicked a field goal in the last minute to win the match for the Panthers, 35-34. In round 23, he repeated the feat by kicking the winning field goal in the 79th minute at Penrith Stadium to beat the North Queensland Cowboys, 23-22. On 9 September 2014, Moylan extended his contract with the Panthers from the end of 2015 until the end of 2017. On 29 September 2014, Moylan was selected in the Australian train on squad. On the same day, he was named as fullback for the Prime Minister's XIII side to play against Papua New Guinea. On 15 October, Moylan was called into the Kangaroo's 2014 Four Nations squad to replace Jarryd Hayne, who had announced that he was leaving rugby league to play American Football in the National Football League. Moylan didn't play a match in the series.2015
On 13 February, Moylan played at fullback for the NRL All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars in the 2015 All Stars match at Cbus Super Stadium, the NRL All Stars losing 6-20. On 3 May, he played for New South Wales City against New South Wales Country, playing at fullback in the 2015 City vs Country Origin match and kicking 3 goals in City's 22-34 loss at Wagga Wagga. In round 12, against the Parramatta Eels, he suffered a season ending foot injury in the Panthers' 20-26 loss at Penrith Stadium. He finished the 2015 season having played in 11 matches, scoring 2 tries, kicking 20 goals and kicking 2 field goals for the Panthers.2016
On 13 January, Moylan was named in the emerging New South Wales Blues squad. On 27 January, he was named by incoming coach Anthony Griffin as the new captain of the Panthers for the 2016 season. In round 5, against the Parramatta Eels, he made his return from injury for the Panthers, making his debut as club captain in the Panthers' last minute 20-18 win at Parramatta Stadium. After showing good form in the early rounds, Moylan was leading the race for the fullback spot for New South Wales facing competition from Wests Tigers superstar James Tedesco and Lachlan Coote from the North Queensland Cowboys but eventually beating them to the starting number 1 jersey. On 1 June 2016, Moylan made his debut for New South Wales against Queensland, playing at fullback in the 4-6 loss at ANZ Stadium. After regaining the fullback spot for game 2, where the Blues lost 16-26 including the 2016 State of Origin series at Suncorp Stadium, Moylan was dropped from the team for James Tedesco. However, halfback Adam Reynolds was ruled out due to a shoulder injury, so Moylan, who performed solidly in the first 2 matches, was called back into the squad where he started game 3 at five-eighth even though he hadn't played a NRL match in the position. Moylan featured in all 3 matches for Blues in their 2-1 series loss. On 22 September 2016, Moylan extended his contract with the Panthers until the end of the 2021 season. Moylan finished off the 2016 NRL season with him playing in 21 matches and scoring 4 tries for the Panthers. At the end of the year, Moylan was named in the Australia 2016 Four Nations 24-man squad. Moylan played in one match in the tournament, in the first round against Scotland where he played at fullback in the 54-12 win at Craven Park, Hull.2017
After the Panthers Round 5 clash against the Melbourne Storm, where they lost 28-6 at AAMI Park, Moylan alongside Waqa Blake and Peta Hiku were dropped to the Panthers NSW Cup team for 1 match after they breached the booze curfew by being out in the Melbourne nightlife into the early hours of the next morning. Moylan played the first half the season playing at fullback before switching to five-eighth where he success in the position. After being one of the main influences for the Panthers to guide themselves into the top 8 after a 7-game winning streak, Moylan was a shock absentee for the Panthers finals campaign after ruling himself to due to personal issues. Moylan finished the 2017 NRL season with him playing in 18 matches and scoring 8 tries for the Panthers. On 9 November 2017, it was confirmed that Moylan was released from his contract with Penrith to join the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in a swap-deal with James Maloney, being signed on for 4 years. It was rumoured before the swap that Moylan was “disinterested and restless” and was having a feud with coach Anthony Griffin. There is also claims that he didn't turn up to his rehabilitation sessions for his hamstring injury and that he didn't want to captain the team anymore.2018
In Round 1 of the 2018 NRL season, Moylan made his club debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks against the North Queensland Cowboys, starting at five-eighth in the 20-14 loss at 1300SMILES Stadium.Moylan made a total of 24 appearances for Cronulla in his first season with his new side as the club reached the preliminary final before losing to Melbourne 22-6.
2019
In round 3, Moylan suffered a hamstring injury in Cronulla's 42-16 win over North Queensland ruling him out for six weeks.Moylan returned to the Cronulla side in round 11 for their match against rivals St George which Cronulla won 22-9 at WIN Stadium.