Penrith Panthers captain Matt Moylan to take time away from NRL to address personal issues

IN a finals bombshell, Matt Moylan has been ruled out of Penrith’s NRL finals campaign to deal with issues that have been “bubbling beneath the surface’’.

Panthers skipper Matt Moylan is taking time away from the game to deal with personal issue.

IT started as a crisis meeting about his long-term commitment to the Panthers, but ended with Penrith captain Matt Moylan accepting he needed time away from rugby league to deal with personal issues.

In a finals bombshell, on Monday Moylan was ruled out of Penrith’s post-season campaign to deal with issues which had been “bubbling beneath the surface’’ throughout the season.

Moylan accepted the club’s decision to seek professional help for his health, which he had kept to himself for five months.

Panthers executive general manager Phil Gould denied there had been a fallout between the skipper and coach Anthony Griffin, and dismissed suggestions Moylan’s personal issues were related to alcohol or drugs.

But he was adamant their local pin-up was committed to seeing out his future at the foot of the mountains.

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Penrith Panthers captain Matt Moylan leaves the club today after it was revealed he would miss the finals. Picture: Toby Zerna

“The easy assumption is to say there’s been some sort of substance abuse, drugs or alcohol, or he’s living some sort of private life, it’s none of that at all,’’ Gould said.

“It’s more the stress that Matt puts on himself through expectation, and through the role he plays at this club as a leader.

“He’s still a young man.

“It’s probably not one incident in particular, it’s nothing major, but when you pile them all together, a lot of little things we noticed around the place over the past month or so, it was totally out of character for Matt.’’

Questions were raised about the decision to name Moylan captain and the pressures of the role after Griffin stood down the 26-year-old and teammates Waqa Blake and Peta Hiku after they stayed out late following the round-five loss to the Storm in Melbourne on April 1.

Gould said that incident “was probably the start of things we started to notice about him throughout the year’’.

Panthers skipper Matt Moylan is taking time away from the game to deal with personal issue.

Moylan was desperate to relinquish the captaincy midway through the season, which was reported by The Daily Telegraph at the time.

He is known to enjoy a few beers after a game, but when his approach to rehabilitating his injured hamstring in recent weeks didn’t meet the club’s standards, they stepped in.

Gould said Moylan passed up the offer to receive professional help earlier this season, but were relieved when he took their advice.

He will not seek any rehabilitation overseas and his return could be a matter of weeks or months.

Dressed in a black hoodie and grey tracksuit shorts, Moylan left the Panthers Academy just after 2.15pm, and appeared in fine spirits. Teammates say he remains one of the most jovial around the group.

“He’s having a little trouble dealing with his life as a professional footballer, we want to get that back on track for him,’’ Gould said.

“I’m certain (he will play here next year). I just want him to sort through these issues, get away from the pressures of football at the moment and reflect on why he is a professional footballer and what goes with that.

“He was quite receptive to all that. In the end he was quite relieved. We’ll discuss (the captaincy) when he comes back.

“We knew it would take time to develop. I think Matt’s expectations were too high of himself, he put a lot of pressure on himself, we’ve supported him through that role, we’ve got great leaders here in Peter Wallace, Trent Merrin and James Tamou, and we tried to lighten the load as much as possible.

“The issues aren’t just around the leadership, but with his own football, too, he’s got an injury, his body maintenance and how he’s coping with the physical demands of the game.’’

Penrith’s seasons goes on the line against Manly on Saturday.

“There are eight teams who can’t win it, and we’re one of eight teams who can,’’ Gould said.

MOYLAN’S NRL PATH

Apr 29, 2013

Panthers debut

Moylan debuts against Parramatta in a 44-12 win on Monday night football. The 22-year old is one of the best players on the field in the thumping win.

Mar 22, 2014

Making his mark

In the first of several match-winning performances that season, Moylan kicks a sideline conversion in the shadows of the final siren to beat Canterbury 18-16.

May 4, 2014

Moving up

The Panthers fullback makes his representative debut at fullback for City in their 26-all draw with Country.

Jul 14, 2014

Star power

Moylan nails a clutch field goal in the final minute to secure a 35-34 win over Brisbane in one of the games of the season.

Aug 18, 2014

Consistency is key

In his third match-winning play of the season, Moylan kicks the winning field goal in a 23-22 victory against North Queensland.

Sep 13, 2014

Finishing on a high

At the end of his second season in first grade, Moylan plays in his first finals match, a pulsating 19-18 win over the Roosters. Penrith go down in the preliminary final 18-12 to Canterbury. Moylan is named in the Four Nations squad, but does not play a match.

Jan 27, 2016

Moylan the skipper

Moylan is appointed Panthers captain.

Jun 1, 2016

Origin call-up

After an injury plagued season in 2015 Moylan roars back to life and earns his Origin debut at fullback in the Blues 6-4 loss to Queensland.

Jul 13, 2016

Getting it done

Moylan plays his third Origin match, which doubles as his first senior game at five-eighth. The Blues win 18-14 courtesy of a last-second try to Michael Jennings.

Sep 11, 2016

Finals footy

Penrith defeat Canterbury 28-12 in the first week of the finals with Moylan playing a starring role. The Panthers season is ended the next week via a 22-12 loss to Canberra.

Sep 22, 2016

Panthers loyalty

Moylan signs a four-year contract extension with Penrith that will keep him at the club until the end of 2021.

Oct 28, 2016

Kangaroo debut

Moylan makes his Test debut in a 54-12 win over Scotland as part of the Four Nations.

Apr 4, 2017

Tough times

After breaching a team curfew following a loss to Melbourne, Moylan, Waqa Blake and Peta Hiku are all dropped to reserve grade. Moylan does not lose the captaincy.

Jun 4, 2017

New life

After Penrith’s rough start to the season Moylan plays five-eighth for the club for the first time, playing a starring role in the club’s 38-0 thrashing of Canterbury.

Aug 20, 2017

Injury strikes

Moylan plays his final game of the season, a 26-22 win over Canberra that all but secured Penrith’s spot in the finals.

Sep 4, 2017

Future uncertain

The club announces Moylan will not play again this season as his future at Penrith becomes clouded.

Originally published as Penrith Panthers captain Matt Moylan to take time away from NRL to address personal issues