Now this is a post of hypothetical to garner discussion. Now i preface it by saying i love Moses and how he has played for the club in the past. Though he is aging, rapidly. His durability seems to be declining and the club is not in the position to assist him as he needs at this stage. He is 33 next year. The life without Moses is fast approaching and he will play as long as he can, contracted til 2029. Though he ended 2025 with a bang, his 2026 has been quite frankly his worst as an Eel. He hasn't been awful but he has not been what we expect from our marquee player. Does that mean i do not believe in him? No, i think he can still lead us to finals and beyond. I also defended him with comments of he doesn't care. He cares, you can tell it is effecting with how we are playing.
However, last night got me thinking hypothetically. Now hypothetical does not mean i think this will happen, nor 100% saying it should happen. But forming a discussion of could this happen? Should we look at it? What if? Please do not shoot me for this as me saying "This should happen" yadayadayada....... No merely me saying what do you think. Also, Poppa before i can have you screaming from Queensland "They are not chess pieces" again it is a what if. Mainly for discussion,
Here is my hypothetical discussion, with Sam Walker getting closer to November 1, Roosters apparently courting other halves or at least having the thought of looking for a new 7, before Walker's breakout Origin campaign upping his value by at least $300-400k, could we look at swapping Mitchell Moses for Sam Walker? There are factors in play to look at for something like this to ever happen.
Firstly, financials. Moses would be on about the same or maybe a little less than what Walker will get in his new deal. We would have Moses' money to be able to take on Walker and more. Secondly, position. Both clubs have different values and wants for their Halfbacks. Roosters seem to want to go the Cronk type route of a proper seasoned veteran for a push at a premiership. Parramatta want a star 7, as every team does, but also future after Moses, which is approaching fast. We do not want to be at a point where Moses gets to 2028 or 2029 and declining faster than thought and it is hard to develop a new 7 and buy a new 7. Walker, being 24, fits that bill.
Thirdly, fit. Would Moses go to the Roosters? Yeah, think he would easily go to the Roosters. Teddy is there. They are closer to a premiership. They have TPA's. Only bug bare is Politis and Isaac Moses. As for Walker, would he go to Parra? Well we can offer a lot of money. Pushing possibly the richest deal in the competition. We can offer a walk in Halfback role, goal kicking and possibly captaincy. Dearden was brought up last week, my view on that it would take more than just money to get Dearden as many said move Moses to 6 etc. If Moses is moved on, it makes it easier to tempt a Halfback over as they are clearly the option. Giving Walker the money and the perks could tempt him. Plus Walker also has had some experience around Ryles when he was assistant at the Roosters. Not much but is familiar at least.
Lastly, risk. What are the risks for both parties? Let's start with the Roosters, they already have DCE who apparenly has an option for 2027. Would the Roosters want two halves well into their 30's? There have been links of Moses to the Roosters for a long time. I would reckon if there is an opportunity they would look into it.
The risk for them is investing in an ageing half with durability concerns. As for Parra? Well the risk is getting the wheels in motion and how we approach it. If we approach the Roosters and they are interested dialogue can be made. But if say Moses declines going to the Roosters, that is where a problem arises where how does Moses react? Does it get to a point where he loses his you know what and we lose him and get nothing? Does hie response go across the playing group? Same can happen if we ask the Roosters and they say no and Moses gets notified about it. Roosters of course would have all the leverage in this scenario, it doesn't effect them what so ever if they show interest in it or not. What we do not want is to try, fail, Moses gets pissed off and demands to leave and we are left in a worse spot with either a rookie 7 before they are ready or a stop gap and just waiting for the chance to convince a 7 to come here.
But is there a risk in getting Walker? Maybe, no signing is ever 100% guarenteed to be successful. Is it low risk? I would say yes. Walker has shown he is talented enough to succeed on the big stage. He has all aspects of his game met as he can organise, kick, run and defend reletively well. Not perfect in defence but not a complete liability.
So what would a move like this do for Parramatta? It shows intent. It shows long term planning. It shows they are willing to make tough calls in order to prepare for future success. Is getting a 24 year old Walker for a 32 year old Moses a good idea? It can be. But if a deal like this is ever to be considered it needs to be done asap before Moses' value drops further and further with risk of injury and decline.
But doing this move i think would not be like Gutho's move where the fan base was split on liking it or not. I do actually think the majority would approve of a move like this. Great teams of the past make decisions like this. Roosters themselves did it with Cronk moving on Pearce. Walker is not Cronk but he a top 8 Halfback with potential of being top 5. Would offering Walker a 5 year deal worth $1.5mil a good deal? For a Halfback it is a fair deal.
Again, not saying this will or should happen. More so let's discuss what do you think?
Replies
If you can get Walker then maybe.. Ultimately we would hope Fletcher would develop to be Moses long term replacement but I have no hope in our club to further develop players past the age of 19..
Walker still won't win you a competition alone we need better leadership on the field better forwards and outside backs...
Nor am I saying Walker will win one by himself, no player does. But instead of getting to 2028 and thinking "Is Fletcher ready" "Do we have a replacement?" "Is there anything on the market?" It could be better to go down this path and worry about the rest as it comes. Getting a recognised 7 makes your life a lot easier. Walker can be a 10 year Halfback.
It takes more but is a start.
100% We cant be hoping for a junior to make the leap as much as I personally would love it.
Roosters may also be thinking that they need to plan for the future and bring a Junior through at 7 they currently have some decent juniors running around 2 half-backs that we probably should be trying to poach If we dont go for a Moses replacement now in Walker..
Rodwell is their future. Why not pair him with someone like Moses as they have their plan B ready to go once Moses retires.
Roosters have S Walker, Rodwell, Savala, Elliot and Marketo. They will have halves to poach
Isn't Elliott off to NQ?
I'm not going to get into the whole DB and Lomax thing and how I disagree as it's not the point of this. But with all that Coryn, it could be smart to cash in where you can.
Is it a situation where for both parties, parting way could be beneficial? Maybe. Moses has a chance of winning a comp sooner, we get a franchise Halfback for next 10+ years.
I've said and I'll say it again none of the players respect Jim, it's a rift between players+coaches against parramatta front office. They want elite players but we aren't making any because of how tight Jim and O'Neil are. There was rumours about this at the start of the season and a reason why Lomax decided to go, Dylan Brown only wanted 100k more but the club said no and we are left with nothing. Our recruitment and Retention team is the reason why we are flopping so hard atm, the boys playing right now are cup players and need minutes in cup to develop better. Players like Moses, Fox, Walker, Paulo, etc can't do much because they are picking out the wrong players to play for the club. I don't know when this will end, but a few meetings or sackings need to happen asap.
Parafan you do not have a bloody clue, what do you know about "none of the players respect" Jim Saratinos.The only rift is the "gap" between first grade level players and the one's we are currently run on to the field every weekend!
LB, I am not screaming but you are using the Chess Pieces naively.
Sam Walker is like a "god child" to Politis, Don't think for a minute but the guys at the Roosters knew how big a superstar Sam was to become, Christ I could see it up here,his heritage is Brisbane...Ipswich to be precise, the Bronc's would have had him in a minute, if they could have got him out of Politis's hands......no way in a million year's would he come to Parra.
Start your hypothisis with a difference "duck" the Sam one is way out of your/our league.
Whats more how stupid do you think Roosters are, do you think they are ignorant of Moses, health and playing record.
Hey I'm just going off the rumour someone said at the start of the year, where there is smoke there is fire.
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