Sharks big man Braden Hamlin-Uele says injury-prone playmaker Matt Moylan is in “scary” form on his quest to reclaim a permanent spot in Cronulla’s starting line-up.
Likened to Darren Lockyer in his early days at the Panthers, Moylan’s career has been hampered by injury and form concerns since he joined the Sharks in 2018.
The representative honours he scored as a Panther have eluded him in the Shire and he was struck down by injuries yet again in 2021.
Even when first-choice playmaker Shaun Johnson was ruled out for the season, Moylan spent time on the bench, stuck behind starters Luke Metcalf and Braydon Trindall.
But Fitzgibbon opted to take a chance on the injury-prone playmaker ahead of his first season as head coach and re-signed him to a one-year deal for 2022.
Now, Moylan appears to be determined to repay the faith and, according to Hamlin-Uele, is working overtime to beat his teammates to a spot in the Sharks’ starting side.
“He’s one of the ones that have gone under the radar this pre-season, but I honestly haven’t seen ‘Moyza’ this flying and this fit and ready to go in a long time,” Hamlin-Uele told .
“I think personally he’s had his best pre-season. His body’s looking great, he looks great.”
Fitzgibbon said earlier this week he had yet to decide who would partner star recruit Nicho Hynes in the halves, but Trindall, Moylan and Metcalf appear to be the frontrunners.
Hamlin-Uele said Moylan would be giving the coach plenty to think about.
“It’s kind of scary to see what Matt Moylan can do inxjmtzyw this kind of physicality and how fit he is,” he said.
“He looks ready and he looks like he wants to be there this year, so that’s really exciting.”
Moylan was not named in the Sharks’ first NRL trial, to be played against Penrith on Sunday, with Ryan Rivett and Trindall set to start in the halves.
But Moylan looks likely to feature in the club’s second and final pre-season match against the Bulldogs as Fitzgibbon gets to work nutting out a winning halves combination.
