Mitchell Moses never liked the ‘‘Big Four’’ tag.
But after joining a Parramatta side that includes Corey Norman, Bevan French and now Jarryd Hayne, it could be argued that he is again a member of a very special quartet. Another ‘‘Big Four’’, if you like.
“I guess you could put it that way,” Moses said. “If you look at any team you could come up with a ‘big four’ or whatever term you like to use. It’s exciting having (Hayne) on board and we’re happy to have him.”
Moses was previously a member of the Wests Tigers’ ‘‘big four’’, which also included James Tedesco, Aaron Woods and Luke Brooks. Only Brooks remains at the joint-venture outfit after the others went elsewhere in their quest for success.
Moses has had an early taste at the Eels, experiencing finals football for the first time in 2017 and then following it up with a successful World Cup stint for Lebanon. An NRL game is yet to be staged and already the preseason talk has been about the prospect of he and Penrith youngster Nathan Cleary combining for NSW.
As fate would have it, Moses and Cleary take on each other in their opening clash of the new season at Panthers Stadium on Sunday.
“He’s been on fire,” Cleary said of Moses. “He’s always had that talent and at the back end of last year he really broke through. He’s a massive part of that Parramatta team.
“For Lebanon, he was really impressive, I love watching him. I’m looking forward to coming up against him in round one.”
Moses returned the compliment after being impressed with the way Cleary has handled the hype that has surrounded his young first-grade career.
“He’s a really good player,” Moses said. “The year he had last year was unbelievable, he’s a really class player. For the amount of games he’s played, he’s a class player and going to be a player of the future.
“He’s got all the tools, he looks really calm. He’s the best thing for that Penrith team and they will look to come out firing as well.”
Moses’ move to Parramatta has proven to be a good one. However, it has emerged the young playmaker was on the radar of Canterbury last year, only for then-coach Des Hasler to block the move.
In an interview with Fairfax Media, former Bulldogs chairman Ray Dib said Tedesco, Moses and Woods were “ready to sign”, with Woods and Tedesco prepared to take a pay cut so they could all switch to Belmore. However, Dib claimed Hasler scuppered the deal because he thought Moses was “not good enough to play”.
“I had no talks with the Bulldogs at all,” Moses said. “Me and Woodsy and Teddy, we’re still really close mates. I speak to Woodsey all the time and I obviously live with Teddy. We’re really close still. I would have loved to keep playing with them but stuff happened and I’m really happy with where I am at Parramatta at the moment. I’m really excited about what this team can do.”
Asked if he was flattered that his long-time teammates would salary sacrifice to accommodate him, Moses said: “I’m not sure what was said or what happened in those meetings. I stayed out of it, found my home at Parramatta and I’m excited about the future.”
While Cleary and Moses have already been mooted as Blues contenders, they are more focused on playing each other rather than the prospect of pairing up for Origin.
“It’s humbling to be mentioned in that category of Origin,” Moses said. “I won’t look too far ahead, I’ve got to play good footy for Parramatta first before all of that stuff happens. If I’m playing good footy here, that stuff will sort itself out.”
Replies
As I had said when the Dib story broke, it was all BS. Just his excuse to shift all the blame of the Bulldogs demise on Hassler.
About Wests..has there been a team that's been raided and screwed up its retention this hard? Good to know that not only Parra has f*cked up over the years.
They should have been winning Premierships with all the talent listed below
1. James Tedesco
2. Josh Addo-Carr
3. Marike Koroibete
4. Mitchell Moses
5. Aaron Woods
6. Andrew Fifita
7. Curtis Sironen
8. Bodene Thompson
9. Martin Taupau
10. Blake Austin
11. Adam Blair
12. Nathan Brown
Yet their Board never gets mentioned for being useless or failing at their jobs?? Marina Go is a protected species. She absolutely should have been sacked as Chairman for the way the club handled the Big 4 re-signings. What a disastrous result for the Tigers. Not to mention the steady stream of other players walking out of the club. Where was the long term strategy around retention? Why was the Board completely asleep at the wheel? Look at that roster that's been allowed to walk out. That type of talent takes decades to rebuild.
Come to think of it..how did Dennis Fitzgerald survive the shite teams, coaches and recruitment we were being fed from 1987 until the Super League war which was our "get out of jail free" card to return to the top?
Well he did sign Brian Smith which was his big get out of jail card too I guess.
You're right though. Boards don't win Premierships but they oversee the operational issues at the club and are their to offer guidance and insight. The Board of the Tigers should have been working with the Executive to ensure there was a clear and robust mid-long term recruitment strategy. LOOK AT THOSE NAMES THAT WALKED OUT!!!!!
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