NRL market watch: Matt Moylan rewarded at Sharks, Jordan McLean set for new deal at Cowboys
Sharks playmaker Matt Moylan’s resilience and new-found focus has been rewarded with a contract extension which is projected to push him to within reach of 200 NRL games.
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Matt Moylan will set his sights on a career covering more than 200 NRL games after extending his future at the Sharks.
What seemed physically impossible only 12 months ago, Moylan’s renewed focus and steel has been rewarded with a new two-year deal at Cronulla.
Moylan, 31, has agreed to terms on the two-year contract that will provide the 161-gamer with the opportunity to reach a memorable 200-game milestone.
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Influential in the Sharks rain-soaked win over the Bulldogs, Moylan has produced a remarkable job to restore the belief in his body and ability.
Flawed by hamstring and calf issues, Moylan was unable to train over back-to-back days last year.
Yet with the faith of Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon, Moylan has transformed his attention towards training, extras and diet.
He has rediscovered his damaging running game and struck a formidable attacking combination with Nicho Hynes to catapult the Sharks into the top-four.
The former NSW Origin player has played every game this season with Saturday’s 15th appearance the best start to a season since helping steer the Sharks to a preliminary final in 2018.
Cowboys move to tie down top prop
The Cowboys have dismissed speculation Jordan McLean will quit the club with the rejuvenated prop set to sign a new deal that could see him finish his career at North Queensland.
News Corp can reveal North Queensland have tabled a one-year extension to McLean in the lead-up to the Cowboys’ derby showdown with the Broncos in Townsville on Saturday night.
Off-contract at season’s end, McLean’s future at the Cowboys has been uncertain after several seasons of patchy form, with the former Test prop linked to a possible return to his premiership glory days at Melbourne.
The Storm will lose three premiership forwards — Jesse and Kenny Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi — to the Dolphins next season and McLean, who knows Melbourne’s systems, was viewed as a handy front-row replacement.
But the Cowboys are keen to retain McLean.
The hulking prop, who turns 31 in October, has averaged 116 metres and 22 tackles per game this season and was rewarded for his consistent form with selection last week in NSW’s extended 22-man squad for Origin II.
McLean joined the Cowboys in 2018 on a lucrative deal worth around $700,000 a season and the 196cm, 115kg giant has copped criticism for struggling to deliver bang for his big bucks as the club’s enforcer in the post-Matt Scott era.
But the 172-game NRL veteran has played a key role in North Queensland’s stunning charge into the top four this season, convincing Cowboys bosses to table a new deal for McLean.
The 2017 World Cup winner is set to wage an engine-room battle with NSW teammate and Brisbane enforcer Payne Haas in the Queensland derby and Cowboys coach Todd Payten lauded McLean’s attitude.
“Jordan has been a really important part of our turnaround this year,” Payten said.
“He makes us a tighter team in the middle. Jordan has been carrying the ball with some grunt. He has got his body right and he is going really good for us.
“There’s a number of reasons for his form. There’s several teammates around him who are playing better, but Jordan has got his body in good order.
“Last year was the first time he has ever played a full season without missing a game and that laid the foundation for Jordan to start this year with confidence.
“He is a really smart footballer through the middle. He is an older head and a good leader for our younger forwards.”
McLean was superb in the Cowboys’ round 3 belting of Brisbane, charging for 151 metres in the 38-12 rout at Suncorp, but Payten is wary of a bounce back from the fifth-placed Broncos in Townsville.
“The Broncos are a good team, they have some really talented, athletic footballers,” Payten said. “The Broncos and us have both shown with our performances this season how important it is to have experience in key positions.
“Adam Reynolds (Brisbane halfback recruit) has made a huge difference to the Broncos and Chad (Townsend, Cowboys No.7) has given us calmness and direction to our scrumbase.”
Sharks land Taupau signing blow
-David Riccio
The Sharks have prised the hard-running younger brother of Kiwi Test forward Martin Taupau out of Canterbury.
Junior “Kapow” Taupau has signed a two-year deal with Cronulla from 2023.
The 18-year-old Endeavour Sports High student was a standout in the Bulldogs’ Harold Matthews Cup team last year, while he was also a member of Canterbury’s side that reached this year’s SG Ball semi-finals.
At about 188cm and 104kg, Taupau still has some development to do to match the physicality of his older brother.
However, in his progression through the Bulldogs’ junior representative teams, he has proven a handful for defenders with his strong carry.
The Sharks believe Taupau will benefit from continuing his rugby league development within their proven NRL pathways program.
Dolphins secure halfback in Panthers raid
-Peter Badel
The Dolphins’ attack on premiers Penrith has continued with Wayne Bennett signing Nathan Cleary’s understudy Sean O’Sullivan as his foundation halfback for next season.
After months of speculation, the Dolphins have finally sealed the deal with O’Sullivan, who has inked a three-year deal as the expansion franchise’s No.1 shot-caller for their entry to the NRL in 2023.
The Dolphins will ramp up their raid on Penrith’s massive nursery on Thursday by snapping up Panthers SG Ball captain Mason Teague, a classy lock likened in style to NSW Origin star Cameron Murray.
O’Sullivan is the fourth player to be poached from NRL premiers the Panthers, joining young guns Isaiya Katoa and Harry Hassett and outside back Rob Jennings in quitting Penrith to chase an opportunity at the Dolphins.
A fifth Panther, teenage back-rower Harrison Hassett, will sign with the Dolphins after November 1.
The Dolphins have struggled to find a marquee player in the halves, but in O’Sullivan, Bennett believes he has secured a serviceable halfback who can steer the NRL’s 17th team through their embryonic years.
O’Sullivan is expected to be joined at the scrumbase by former Broncos $1 million man Anthony Milford, who is off-contract at Newcastle and tipped to reunite with Bennett as the Dolphins’ first-choice five-eighth.
The 23-year-old O’Sullivan has played 25 NRL games since his debut for the Roosters in 2018 and has showed some character fighting back from a knee reconstruction.
Statistics show O’Sullivan is ranked second this season among NRL halfbacks in key categories, behind only Penrith top dog Cleary.
During Cleary’s injury-enforced absence earlier this season, O’Sullivan played four games and steered the high-flying Panthers to victory in every match for a 100 per cent success rate.
Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader said O’Sullivan would get the chance to make one of the club’s halves positions his own and reconnect with Bennett, who signed him to the Broncos in 2018.
“We are very excited to be bringing Sean to the Dolphins,” Reader said.
“He showed last year with the Warriors that he was a quality playmaker, and he has backed that up with his performances for the Panthers this year.
“Our coach Wayne Bennett is especially pleased to finally be able to coach one that got away from him. He recruited Sean to a contract with the Broncos before he moved to the Rabbitohs, and now he will get to work with him in a new team.
“Sean fills a major need on our roster and we look forward to seeing what he can do in the Dolphins’ colours.”
The Panthers playmaker is the son of Dolphins recruitment boss Peter O’Sullivan, but the club dismissed suggestions of nepotism. Bennett last month told News Corp O’Sullivan senior would not be involved in any negotiations due to a conflict of interest.
“If Sean signs it will be my call in conjunction with Terry Reader,” Bennett said. “His father (Peter O’Sullivan) won’t be allowed to be involved. I won’t have that.”
Originally published as NRL market watch: Matt Moylan rewarded at Sharks, Jordan McLean set for new deal at Cowboys
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