He may be several rungs down the pecking order just now when it comes to the sky blue No.1 jersey for Origin I but young Penrith and City custodian Matt Moylan did his future representative ambitions no harm at all with a standout performance in Sunday's City v Country match in Dubbo.
The 21-year-old was arguably the best player on the field in the opening 20 minutes, with classy touches at both ends, and went on to earn City's players' player award.
The honour came after a near faultless 80-minute display that included a series of fearless bomb defusals, 90 running metres, some important tackles (including one to pin Country fullback David Mead near his own line) and a high quality try assist with a perfectly weighted kick for Josh Reynolds after finding space from an Andrew Fifita offload.
"Matty Moylan really impressed me, right from the kickoff and right throughout the week," City captain Ryan Hoffman said when asked which of the younger players was likely to take the most from the match.
"He wasn't standoffish, he wasn't thinking, 'I'm a young bloke, I gotta tread on eggshells' – he was straight into them.
"The hard work he did not only chasing kicks and defending kicks as well, he was fantastic, he's a player you'd love to see take another step."
Rabbitohs centre Dylan Walker and Bulldogs prop David Klemmer also impressed Hoffman.
"It's all those guys that are taking their first opportunity and it's how they go on from it now. They're three who I was very impressed with," he said.
Moylan played down his own role when he spoke to NRL.com after the game but was clearly thrilled to be involved in the event.
"I really enjoyed the week, it was a good experience. I was a bit quiet at the start of the week just getting to know the boys but towards the back end of the week it was really enjoyable," he said.
"I was very comfortable [once we got out on the field], all the boys got along well during the camp and bonded from there. We trained well all week, it was a good camp."
He said he would look to take the representative experience back to club footy with Penrith and try to kick on and improve from there.
With experienced stars like Jarryd Hayne, Josh Dugan and Brett Stewart, the currently injured James Tedesco and Michael Gordon, as well as Country counterpart David Mead all playing good footy, Moylan is long odds to feature in the 2014 Origin series. However, if he is able to keep producing performances like Sunday's, and even better as he improves, he may force the state selectors' hands in the coming years.
The 21-year-old was arguably the best player on the field in the opening 20 minutes, with classy touches at both ends, and went on to earn City's players' player award.
The honour came after a near faultless 80-minute display that included a series of fearless bomb defusals, 90 running metres, some important tackles (including one to pin Country fullback David Mead near his own line) and a high quality try assist with a perfectly weighted kick for Josh Reynolds after finding space from an Andrew Fifita offload.
"Matty Moylan really impressed me, right from the kickoff and right throughout the week," City captain Ryan Hoffman said when asked which of the younger players was likely to take the most from the match.
"He wasn't standoffish, he wasn't thinking, 'I'm a young bloke, I gotta tread on eggshells' – he was straight into them.
"The hard work he did not only chasing kicks and defending kicks as well, he was fantastic, he's a player you'd love to see take another step."
Rabbitohs centre Dylan Walker and Bulldogs prop David Klemmer also impressed Hoffman.
"It's all those guys that are taking their first opportunity and it's how they go on from it now. They're three who I was very impressed with," he said.
Moylan played down his own role when he spoke to NRL.com after the game but was clearly thrilled to be involved in the event.
"I really enjoyed the week, it was a good experience. I was a bit quiet at the start of the week just getting to know the boys but towards the back end of the week it was really enjoyable," he said.
"I was very comfortable [once we got out on the field], all the boys got along well during the camp and bonded from there. We trained well all week, it was a good camp."
He said he would look to take the representative experience back to club footy with Penrith and try to kick on and improve from there.
With experienced stars like Jarryd Hayne, Josh Dugan and Brett Stewart, the currently injured James Tedesco and Michael Gordon, as well as Country counterpart David Mead all playing good footy, Moylan is long odds to feature in the 2014 Origin series. However, if he is able to keep producing performances like Sunday's, and even better as he improves, he may force the state selectors' hands in the coming years.
