A little more from SMH..
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The Penrith Panthers have moved to deter rival clubs from circling Matt Moylan by placing a transfer fee on the five-eighth should he ask for a release from the final four years of his contact.
Fairfax Media can also reveal the 26-year-old, who last week indicated to the club he was intent on making things work at Penrith, has relinquished the captaincy after asking to be released from the burden and toll of leading the football team.
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It hasn't stopped rival clubs from meeting with his manager to discuss the possibility of him leaving Penrith in the off-season. However, Penrith are believed to have asked for around $250,000 in compensation should Moylan ask to leave his junior club.
Under NRL rules, a transfer fee between any of the 16 clubs would be exempt from the salary cap, however the club gaining Moylan's services would have to pay an additional 50 per cent loading fee to the governing body, which goes into the player education and welfare program.
This would be on top of the $900,000-a-season deal his manager is seeking from interested clubs, meaning Moylan would set a club back in excess of $1.2 million should Penrith be compensated for a potential release.
Cronulla and the Wests Tigers are the front-runners for Moylan's signature, with Manly believed to now be out of the race having recently upgraded Dylan Walker's contract and likely to extend Blake Green's contract beyond 2018.
South Sydney paid a transfer fee for Sam Burgess to get him back from rugby union, while Cronulla did the same to get James Segeyaro from the English Super League. But it's almost unprecedented for an NRL club to pay another NRL club for a player's services.
Also complicating the pursuit of Moylan is the fact he has a $250,000-a-year registered third-party deal in place that is unlikely to be transferred to another club.
The Tigers want Moylan to wear the No.1 jersey vacated by James Tedesco after his defection to the Sydney Roosters, but Moylan has indicated his preference is to play in the halves.
There had been talk Cronulla would offload James Maloney to lure Moylan to the club, but Cronulla believe they can afford to have both Moylan and Maloney at the club next year despite having also signed Josh Dugan on a lucrative deal.
Tigers coach Ivan Cleary handed Moylan his debut at Penrith and has a strong relationship with him from their time together at the Panthers. However, Cronulla also have the added advantage of Andrew Fifita, who is one of Moylan's closest friends.
Moylan has been training at the Panthers academy during the past fortnight and appears to be in a much clearer head space than a month ago when it looked like he would demand a release from the club.
The Panthers handed Moylan the captaincy in 2016 aware of some of the shortcomings in his preparation and dedication to training. The appointment of him as captain was meant to inspire and bring the best out of him. But it has arguably had the opposite effect, strangling a player who thrives on freedom.
It's understood he asked to step down from the captaincy at one of the regular meetings he now has with club officials – the strongest indication to date that he will be at the club when they return for pre-season training on November 13.
