moltzen made a slow recovery from injury, starting from the bench in first games of the 2011 season, saying it took time to get back, "into the old ways, getting tackled and not worried about getting up and, you know, my leg's fallen off." by round 8 he had recovered enough to make his representative debut for country origin, but was struggling to refind his form from before the injury. by the end of the season, moltzen's performances were being praised, and he had replaced wade mckinnon as starting fullback. he played in every game of the 2011 season.