Leigh Leopards owner gives ‘personal thoughts’ on Matt Moylan retirement reports

Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont has given his thoughts on whether Matt Moylan will play in 2024 as retirement rumours swirl.

Rumours and reports began to swirl in late September that Leigh’s Australian star Matt Moylan could be considering hanging up the boots at the end of the season.

Incredibly, those reports emerged just a day before Leigh faced off against Salford in the first round of the play-0ffs, a game that the Leopards won with Moylan featuring.

Adrian Lam was quickly asked about the reports, labelling the decision as “out of my control”, adding: “There’s not been much conversation about it. I’m always checking in with all the players and Matt is enjoying his rugby at the moment and if he plays like that every week we don’t want him to go anywhere.”

Since then, Leigh saw their season end at the hands of Wigan but they’ve gone about an incredibly strong recruitment drive for 2025 with three new NRL acquisitions meaning their overseas quota is full, assuming Moylan plays on.

Now though, Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont has spoken on the topic of Moylan’s possible retirement with the head honcho stating that he believes the Australian will call time on his playing career.

Leigh Leopards owner gives verdict on Moylan future

“As it stands, it’s a yes,” Beaumont answered when asked if Moylan remained a Leigh Leopards player when appearing on the Super League Raw YouTube channel.

However, giving his own verdict, Beaumont stated: “My personal thoughts are that I think Matt is going to retire but I don’t know that.

“I just think from how he was, he almost said something at the Awards night that made me think he was talking as if he has actually already made the conscious decision.

“That’s not factual and it is as good a guess as anyone else.”

It would be a major blow for Leigh given how strong Moylan was for them, particularly in the first half of the season, and it would also trigger the hunt for a half-back replacement.

“If he does go, he’s been great for us this year. If he doesn’t, then I’m sure he’ll be great for us next year,” Beaumont stated, before conceding the difficulties that would arise if the Australian does call time on his career.

“It will be a loss at this stage of the season if we’ve got to start finding somebody new because there is nothing planned for it. We’d be at square one with it.

“As with any contract, if a player decides that they don’t want to do it then it’s pointless trying to force them to play.

“At the moment, he’s definitely a Leigh Leopards player but I think in my heart of hearts, that won’t be the case.”