Manly insist they won’t be paying attention to the ongoing Matt Moylan situation at Penrith ahead of Saturday’s crunch elimination final clash between the two sides.
But Sea Eagles star Jake Trbojevic did admit that losing your captain on the eve of the finals can only hurt a team.
Moylan’s battered hamstring stopped him from facing the Sea Eagles in the final-round clash, and he was granted indefinite leave by the Panthers on Monday.
Injury may have prevented him from playing Saturday’s grudge match anyway, but he will now be absent from Penrith camp in the lead up to the game after speculation swirled around his future last week.
Trbojevic said the loss of a club’s captain on the eve of the finals would be a hit to any team.
“It would be tough if we lost Chez (Daly Cherry-Evans),” Trbojevic said.
“He’s been such a big part of us this year and he has played some good footy and been a great leader.
“For us it would be very tough if we lost him, so it it would be very hard for them.”
Meanwhile, former Penrith forward Lewis Brown said Moylan’s unavailability might only act to galvanise the Panthers.
Brown played three years with Penrith between 2013 and 2015 before shifting to Manly.
He pointed to Moylan’s absence from last week’s 28-12 loss to the Sea Eagles as reason why they would still be well prepared without him.
The Panthers are 3-3 without Moylan this year, but the development of Nathan Cleary at halfback has allowed the youngster to take even more control of the team.
“I hope Matt is alright,” Brown said.
“But I’m pretty sure they are a professional club and professional team.
“They’ll band around him and around the team and they’ll want to do the Penrith area proud this weekend.”