Following his first game in charge of the Penrith Panthers, in what was a 24-20 victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday night, coach Anthony Griffin wouldn't speculate on Matt Moylan's future in the halves.
With Moylan producing a mixed bag in his first 40 minutes of rugby league since May last year, Griffin was ultimately pleased to see his skipper get through unharmed after sharing his time between fullback and five-eighth.
With Te Maire Martin stealing the show for the Panthers in their four-point win – and with Jamie Soward, Peter Wallace, Zach Dockar-Clay and Will Smith all recognised halves within the squad – Moylan's future looks set to remain at fullback.
"[Moylan] just wanted to get through that. He was always going to be scratchy. So I was just glad he got through OK," Griffin said.
"The main thing with Matt is he got through and he just needs some time on the field. We'll give him a little bit more next week and hopefully he'll get a few of the kinks out and be ready for Round 1."
Moylan himself admitted he wasn't up to scratch, and was happy no major damage was suffered after getting smashed by Bulldog Greg Eastwood just before half-time.
"Probably the whole 40 minutes I played, I probably wasn't up to where we would've liked. I enjoyed the time at six, but we'll see what happens. To get the first game out of the way was very good," Moylan said.
"I'm not sure about [playing five-eighth next trial]. With 'Sowie' (Jamie Soward) coming back from the All Stars game and 'T' (Martin) having a good game too, my time in the halves might be limited so we'll have to see what happens next week."
Meanwhile Griffin said Wallace's return from an ACL injury, suffered late last season, was one he hopes the veteran halfback can build on into the Panthers' trial against the Eels next weekend.
"Pete was only ever going to play limited minutes. I think the way the game went we were doing a lot of tackling there so he didn't really get much time with the ball anyway," Griffin said.
"It was always the plan to just to get him out there and get a feel again after those two knee reconstructions and give him some more time next week."
