Mitchell Moses, like all good halfbacks, is taking ownership.
Ownership of his form and that of his team. Regardless of whether things are going well at Parramatta or not.
“I have to play more consistent footy to put us in a good position to be able to play finals footy this year,” Moses said.
Moses thinks the Eels have a top four side
@TheParraEels halve Mitchell Moses says backs his side to finish the season strong. #NRL
“I’ve narrowed my game down. I was blaming a lot of other people for my form last year. I had a good, hard look at myself and I thought I needed to change something and I changed it.
“I feel like it’s turned out good for me.”
Moses recently signed a three-year extension, a clear indication the Eels believe they can build the club around the key playmaker. It is a remarkable turnaround from the pre-season, when he was told after Parramatta’s last-placed finish that he was free to walk away immediately.
While no one will admit as much, the playing group was divided over whether the team belonged to Moses or Corey Norman. When the latter left, Moses was at a crossroads. It led to a period of introspection, followed by a burning desire to turn things around.
Taking ownership: Mitchell Moses is displaying a new-found maturity and it's paying off.AAP
“Just how we played last year, we had the team to do it but just couldn’t come together,” he said.
“That was a bit on myself as a halfback, to bring the team together. I really took it upon myself before we came back to pre-season to change my attitude. To change everything. I felt I was blaming a lot of other people for my problems.
“That’s the biggest thing, I’ve really taken ownership of my own game. I’ve had a lot of conversations with [coach] Brad [Arthur], he’s been outstanding for me.
“I sat down with him in the pre-season and said I’m going to prove to you that I am the man to be the halfback here.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations
with [coach] Brad [Arthur], he’s been outstanding for me.
“I sat down with him in the pre-season and said I’m going to prove to you that I am the man to be the halfback here.
Team first: Moses celebrates with his fellow Eels.
Credit:
AAP
“We’ve had a lot of conversations and I feel mine and Brad’s relationship is very good at the moment.
“I’m able to talk to him about anything. He’s helped me enormously this year. I was blaming a lot of people for my mistakes in tin the team and also my own footy. That’s probably a turning point.”
Moses’ turnaround in form is as dramatic as that of his team. Parramatta have the opportunity to leapfrog Manly into fifth spot on the ladder with victory over their arch-rivals at Brookvale on Sunday. They will have to do so without Blake Ferguson, a late scratching due to a knee infection.
Since making his NRL debut in 2014, Moses has played finals football just once. The former Tiger had opportunities to go elsewhere but re-signed with Parramatta in the belief that September footy was possible there.
“There were 100 per cent opportunities, but I didn’t want to leave something I was struggling at,” he said. “I let the club know straight away once we started negotiating that I wanted to stay here, I want to work on what we have here. It was more having a look at my own game and breaking it down.
Not listening to everyone else outside of footy.” The criticism of Moses is that he is the sort of playmaker who, when the team is winning by 10, can help you win a game by 20 or 30 points, but goes missing when times are tight. The 24-year-old concedes it is something he is working to address.
“I feel like I’ve come on a bit this year – knowing when to put on the big plays and when to take it under the arm and take a tackle, things like that,” he said.
“I’ve been working pretty closely with Brad to fix that in my game and I feel that’s coming along slowly. Hopefully it comes out at the right time of the year which is now coming into the end of the season.”
Replies
" criticism of Moses is that he is the sort of playmaker who, when the team is winning by 10, can help you win a game by 20 or 30 points, but goes missing when times are tight " tomorrow Moses will be up against a very good side and against a very good half back , he has never stood up in a big game against top opposition , it should be a close tough game so let's see what he does when the pressure is on .
To be fair Frankie our whole team crumbles against top opposition and it is more our middle defence and handling errors that are the cause. We haven't been in too many close tough games where Moses has the opportunity to show what he can do especially since he took control of the team and we got rid of Norman. This year we either win or lose by plenty and it all comes down to our line speed and defence. Even JT or Johns couldn't help the eels score enough points to counter the soft points conceded against us.
FM, a fair assesment, and really the win last week is an example with the reason we won was through MM's goal Kicking, that in itself shows an improvement with him.
What's needed most is an overall consistant defence, who are the players that are missing the tackles, more needs to be targetted in that area, and its not likely to change that much this year. We need a couple of hard nosed forwards to come to the eels, there will be enough money available for the right players, and ones that can play big minutes or at worst players that are on the bench that are at least equal if not better than those they replace on rotation.
Todays game I believe will test out our backs in a big way, on one side we have a rookie, who I believe will handle things but he will be targeted very much, on the other side a centre who is too slow and leaves his winger in no mans land and why that side allows in too many tries. Taka will be a big help for Parry, and once that is established then Manly will target the other side, to witt I hope they have leant to stay in their positions.
Moses is 24 years old and is yet to prove he can perform against top opposition or under pressure, Clint Gutherosn is in the same boat, It's easy to say the whole team crumbles under pressure but Gutherson is the captain and Moses is the halfback yet they can't perform under pressure .
Moses may be leading in try assists but the majority are from kicks and many from kicks the opposition fumbled and a eels player just fell on the ball , ball in hand Moses is quite predictable and we jave seen games this year where we have had the majority of possession and field position and Moses has struggled . Today is a good opportunity for him and Gutho to show they can perform against good opposition and get the job done
We recently undid the Raiders and we are yet to undo the Storm, Roosters & Rabbits at their very best. Lets see what comes, starting today v Manly.
Based on todays game, we undid ourselves. Though Parry did ok, but if Fergo's back next week & we desperately need him, I would be saying bye bye to Hoffman now. Gutho was found out badly in the ball takes dept. Moses tried short over the top kicks 3 times achieved giving the ball back to Manly, at least he tried something different and made a good 40/20 kick which ended up coming to nothing.
Playing great. Need a massive game from him for us to have any chance tomorrow
He does concede that he is working on it. Tbf most halves the same except for the ones that played origin and some of them have never played in ordinary sides so they would probably be in the same boat if played same teams he has
but off the top of my head below are in same boat as him
- broncos halves pre and post Seibold
- ash Taylor
- Mitch Pearce
- ben hunt
- Townsend and Johnson
- brooks
- Canberra halves
- Canterbury halves just duds
list goes on
No doubt the best is yet to come shortly. The willingness to grind and keep things tight. The commitment to tackle and tackle and tackle and not shy away from being on the front line tackling monsters and speed freaks. The sensing of the right moment to take the initiative and do something skillful outside of the tight grind, etc.
He is not far off playing origin, probably next season.
I'm so glad he is listening to those he should be listening too and taking a very good hard look at himself.
He will be regularly ripping the oppositions open and it could start tomorrow or the next week, but it will happen because he is dreaming it to be that way and he's putting the hard work in, both physically and mentally. I feel all this to come with Mitchell. Go the Eels.
Choco, I was not a fan of him at first, took time for him to live down his tigers days, but is now starting to show what he has, still a way to go though and the future is in his hands.
What I believe he needs is to have a quality ex half back come to the club, and go over his plays showing him the areas he needs to pick up on, he's close to 25 and turns that age in September, an age that many players need to reach for their own and teams benefits.
His defence has picked up, as has his kicking at certain times, he needs a bit more variations in that area, he also needs to back himself a bit more with his runs, as he can cut the opposition defence in half when his mind is on playing to his instincts.
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