Cronulla veteran Matt Moylan has emphatically stated that he will be betting on himself in season 2022 to secure another contract with the Sutherland shire club.
Moylan, 30, has already taken a half-a-million-dollar pay cut to stay on with the Sharks but has claimed that he is willing to move all of his chips into the centre of the table in an effort to extend his first-grade career.
While the former Penrith prodigy is currently free to negotiate with other clubs about what lies beyond next season, the Baulkham Hills-born playmaker told The Sydney Morning Herald he is desperate to remain in black, white and blue.
“I’ve loved my time here [at Cronulla], and my priority is to stay here,” Moylan revealed.
“I haven’t thought about anything beyond next season. I’ll worry about it when it comes to it. I rather focus on training all that other stuff will come."
Although injuries have curtailed his ability to play any further representative contests for the Blues or Kangaroos since 2016, Moylan stressed that he was happy with where his fitness was currently at.
“I’m confident in myself. I just have to keep working hard on my body and give myself an opportunity to finish the career the way I want to," he divulged.
“I had a couple of lean years there. It does get really frustrating and I didn’t enjoy my footy as much because I was in and out and struggling with injuries. I knew I had to keep working hard on myself and my body.”
Having been around the block and back since making his debut for the Panthers in 2013, the still baby-faced Moylan is tipped to partner the incoming, and in-form, Nicho Hynes in the middle of Shark Park in 2022.
And while fanatics from the Shire have already begun singing the former Storm back's praises from their seaside rooftops, Moylan himself was happy to join in the chorus.
“I have a good connection with him [Hynes] already,” Moylan explained.
“It would be good to pick his brain after he came from such a successful club [Melbourne].
“Coming off the season he had, [the excitement] is warranted. He has worked hard and fitted in well. I’m excited to play some footy alongside him."
While the final call is sure to reside with another welcome recruit in head coach Craig Fitzgibbon, Moylan has stressed it "doesn’t matter" to him whether he wears the six or seven jersey in his fifth campaign for Cronulla.
Moylan, Hynes and Fitzgibbon will be afforded their first chance to work together when the Sharks take on the Bulldogs in a trial contest scheduled for Monday, February 28 at PointsBet Stadium.
