Leigh Leopards Suffer Blow as Star Fullback Matt Moylan Succumbs to Recurring Injury
On Tuesday, Leigh Leopards coach Adrian Lam confirmed an injury setback for their star fullback Matt Moylan. Moylan, who had been struggling with a rib injury, was forced off at half-time during the team’s 28-6 defeat to Wigan Warriors.
Lam revealed that Moylan was only “50-50” to play in the match, as he was still dealing with a rib cartilage issue. However, the former Australia international wanted to help his team-mates and opted to feature. Unfortunately, the injury worsened within the first 15 minutes, and the coaching staff had to wait until half-time to substitute him, with Zak Hardaker taking his place.
“He was 50-50 to play with some rib cartilage issue and it was his call to play in the end so we ran with that,” Lam said in the post-match press conference. “But roughly 15 minutes in we knew it wasn’t good so we just had to hang onto that until half-time. It was a bit of a gamble that didn’t pay off.”
Lam acknowledged that they considered taking Moylan off before the interval, but the decision was made to see if he could get through the half. The coach empathized with the player’s situation, having been in a similar position himself as a rugby league professional.
Moylan will now miss Leigh’s upcoming match against Hull FC this weekend, but Lam is hopeful the fullback will not be sidelined for too long. “He won’t play this weekend (against Hull FC). We’ve had two short turnarounds to away teams which is difficult to do so at least on this short turnaround we’re going home on Sunday to play Hull FC: and they’ve got their own injury worries too. Matt probably won’t figure in that but he won’t be too far off that.”
On a more positive note, Lam confirmed that key prop Tom Amone is set to return to the team for the Hull FC clash. There is also a possibility that halfback Gareth O’Brien and back-rower Oliver Holmes could be available for selection.
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