Leigh Leopards added former Australian international Matt Moylan to their squad ahead of the 2024 Super League campaign and the ex-Cronulla man has now revealed how the move came about.
The 32-year-old arrives in place of Challenge Cup-winning playmaker Ben Reynolds who left the Leythers to link up with Featherstone Rovers, meaning Moylan is now set to partner Dream Team member Lachlan Lam.
He joins a spine that includes talent throughout with the reliable Gareth O’Brien set for another year at full-back, as reflected in a change to his shirt number, whilst hooker Edwin Ipape and loose forward John Asiata also earned Dream Team honours highlighting their quality.
In Moylan though the Leopards gain vital experience with the half having over 190 NRL appearances to his name making him an invaluable partner for Lachlan Lam.
Moylan headlines the list of signings that Leigh Leopards made with much of the club’s business actually focusing on retaining their breakout stars, something they have managed to do in most departments.
Other signings include Owen Trout, Dan Norman, Matt Davis and Ben McNamara among others.
“There might have been been a few beers involved” – Moylan lifts the lid on his move to Leigh Leopards
New Leigh Leopards man Matt Moylan played for Australia back in 2016. – Photo by Greig Cowie/Bpi/Shutterstock 6898162x – Copyright: xGreigxCowie/Bpi/Shutterstockx 6898162x
It was a major shock across Super League when Leigh managed to land Moylan but the story of how has now been revealed by Moylan himself when appearing on The Bench podcast with Jenna Brooks and Jon Wilkin.
Noting how out of the blue the move was, he told Brooks and Wilkin: “Yeah, it sort of popped up out of nowhere. I was catching up with Ricky Leutele when he was back in Australia, there might have been a few beers involved.
“We were out celebrating one of our mate’s wife’s birthdays. So, we were having a few beers and sort of got talking about his experiences over here and his time at Leigh.
“The conversation sort of just kept going from there and we ended up taking a photo and sent it to Chris Chester at the club at Leigh.
“At the time it was just a few drunk blokes just sending a photo from a bar and it ended up that the next week I was having a meeting with Adrian Lamb and I think it was a week later I was signed and on a plane over.”
The Australian has now been named in the Leigh Leopards squad to face Huddersfield Giants on Friday night for their Super League opener as part of a very strong-looking squad.
Matt Moylan headlines Leigh squad to face Huddersfield Giants
When Leigh hosted Huddersfield last season the floodlights failed leading to the final 32 minutes being played almost 48 hours later. – Leigh Leopards v Huddersfield Giants Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com – Copyright: x xSWpix.comxt/axPhotographyxHubxLtdxOllyxHassell/SWpix.comx SWP-2275-0038
Adrian Lam has named his squad for Friday night with Moylan set to partner Lachlan Lam in the halves as the Leopards look to make a winning start to the 2024 Super League season.
1 – GARETH O’BRIEN
2 – TOM BRISCOE
3 – ZAK HARDAKER
4 – RICKY LEUTELE
5 – JOSH CHARNLEY
6 – MATT MOYLAN
7 – LACHLAN LAM
8 – TOM AMONE
9 – EDWIN IPAPE
10 – ROBBIE MULHERN
11 – KAI O’DONNELL
12 – JACK HUGHES
13 – JOHN ASIATA
14 – DAN NORMAN
15 – MATT DAVIS
16 – FRANKIE HALTON
17 – OWENT TROUT
18 BEN NAKUBUWAI
19 – ED CHAMBERLAIN
21 – BEN MCNAMARA
24 – UMYLA HANLEY
