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The biggest change in the NRL over the 26 years of its existence has come on the field - but it hasn't been rule…
A large Panthers squad will take the park in their NRL trial against the Bulldogs tonight.
More than 30 Panthers – a mixture of first-grade stars and rookies – hoping to make an impression on new coach Anthony Griffin.
Plenty of talk around the Panthers leading up to the season has been around where new skipper Matt Moylan will play, with Griffin remaining coy about whether it will be at fullback or the halves.
Saturday will make this no clearer, with Moylan said to be playing a quarter of the match in the halves, with another quarter in the custodian position.
It suggests that Griffin doesn’t know where he wants Moylan at this stage, it will be interesting to see how the team shapes up come their next trial against Parramatta.
However, it means that both Peter Wallace and Jamie Soward should be on red alert. Moylan playing in the halves is obviously on Griffin’s mind and three can’t go into two. Should Griffin find that Moylan handles the halves while Soward and Wallace struggle, it may force his hand knowing Peta Hika and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak are ready to play fullback.
For Panthers fans it is an intriguing two weeks. All eyes will be on who performs where.
If Moylan handles the halves and Soward performs in the All-Stars clash, then they may be sealing Wallace’s fate.
It is no secret that Griffin and Wallace have not gotten along in the past. Wallace is set to start at halfback against the Bulldogs and the ball is in his court to force Griffin to keep him there.
I can’t see Griffin having Moylan in the halves with a rookie. Over the next two weeks I think he will be trying to establish if Moylan can make the halves work, and if he can who will be the best person to have beside him.
Then it will be back to the drawing board to select a fullback to replace a postion that Moylan has made his own since his debut in 2013.
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