POPPA's CORNER : SACKING THE CAPTAIN......

There is a blog going on about sacking the Captain and a general opinion that Moses is a bad one....a bit of a wanker as well.

Just to put a different perspective on it.....sack Moses as captain....who replaces him?

Now Moses is a human being, he is playing injured, that should be a greater concern given his history.

Now his being human has other consequences, how would he react if the captaincy was taken off him? i.e. would he want to stay at Parra.....my guess is no, part the ways.....don't worry about his contract, if he wants to go they will have no choice but to let him.

There will be a few clubs out there happy to pay him.....rightly or wrongly. Imagine how good he could be in the right team? Money would not be a problem, Perth or PNG would be I assume, I'm pretty certain he doesn't want to have weekly hidings. Manly could be an interesting choice, or how about Brisbane....now we are talking !!!..... Laughably we could get to keep Pezet....that would cause me to "sack the coach" LOL

Frankly Moses is not a great player, he is a very good one. Given his injury record are we actually keen to keep him? personallly I have always been a Moses supporter, right from the beginning, but are the consequences such that this is a path we now need to head down......everyone (seemingly) rate's our window and Moses together. I'm not sure how that sits now?

I would love to see the commentary on here if we lost him, we will be lining up to sack the incumbents, long odds on there will be a blog to sack MON, then the coaching staff, the CEO and the Chairman.....throw in the ticket collector and the bus driver......ah! nothing like a good hanging.....usually carried out by a lynch mob!

Finally, this is written as a discussion and should not be a CALL to sack the captain, just talk about the options.

A lot of questions around Moses from the fan base Randy, and maybe you are spot on & he isn’t the best captain? But, as to why does he look so frustrated, emotional, different to last year….?

A halfback relies heavily on their 5/8th as we know. A defence has to be wary of multiple playmakers in a side, or, they can focus more energy on the more dangerous player.

Strike 1 - Mitch is on record genuinely claiming DB is the 5/8th he plays his best football with - he would know better than us. He then watched the club somehow lose DB, and hide behind the Knights record deal (a deal that never should’ve had a chance to be offered).

Strike 2 - Mitch then takes part in the recruitment of Lachie Galvin, contacting Galvin personally & meeting him, a huge helping hand to R&R, then like the club, he likely believed Lachie is a signed deal before watching that fall apart & publicly.

Strike 3 - Mitch sees the club hand out one of the worst contracts in its history - yes, I mean that, and its nothing against Jonah - who is very much impacting his game.

Strike 4 - Mitch loses another representative player he has a combination & friendship with in Lomax, our biggest metre eater in tackles 1-3, and another vital piece falls away.

Strike 5 - Our middle, another vital aspect for a half is field position & metres, and we are being demolished early putting so much pressure on every decision post-20mins in.

Strike 6 - It’s not temporary, it’s not a case of hang in there for 2026 Mitch, help is on the way. Moses’ last contract, which he would’ve genuinely believed was a chance to compete for a Premiership, will be spent developing a spine & junior 5/8th into grade.

If most of us saw the gaping roster holes last year, one of the elite playmakers in the game saw it well before us, and the realisation of where this club is this season, while playing injured, is a lot.

Was his performance yesterday a captains knock under adversity? We all know it wasnt, but, personally find it hard to judge a player who has been so badly let down by his club.

"Maybe you are right :(
but we've got a shit load of very understandable human reasons at the moment and I think Moses losing captaincy ain't right for now either.
maybe not you but others comparing him to cam smith's captinancy is extremely…"

"I can understand starting with 28 players. We did the same last year and landed Walker and TDS. But we've been too slow to act this year. Ryles has mentioned multiple times we need a middle and a back. "

"When we released Marata, he was heading home to spend time with his partner. And as this article says, he's a 2027 signing, so doesn't solve our problem right now."

Replies

Parraboy April 13, 2026 at 9:05am

lol talking about letting our best player since Hayne go, Moses is our last problem, we got 99 problems before Moses. 😂😂😂
- Prof. Daz > Parraboy April 13, 2026 at 9:18am
  
  Parraboy, you're missing the point. Scapegoating has always been the performative art of picking out a very visible target and loading all one's disquiet onto them. Thus, obviously, you take the #2 half back in the game and demote him in the worst team in the league and, voila, scapegoating the most visible target will obviously improve the team.
  
  Of course when Mass Scapegoating is in effect all sarcasm becomes straight talking so I must add that's all f***ing sarcasm FFS
Prof. Daz April 13, 2026 at 9:10am

"Moses should be sacked as captain but if he left it would be the greatest player retention bungle by "the administration" in the history of the Eels"

"Also, Ryles was the right coach for the administration to select after Bennett declined but the coach is a problem and that reflects poorly on the administration".

"Oh and those options in Dylan Brown's favour were savvy moves to lock up a Rep 6 but also terrible when he exercises his option to leave despite the admin having bent over backwards to please him".

Poppa I want you to turn on your sarcasm detector and when it screams in your ear while reading those sentences above can you please turn a critical eye to the outbreak of incoherent critiques of the "administration to team performance" talk that has broken out as mass scapegoating takes hold?
- Poppa > Prof. Daz April 13, 2026 at 9:44am
  
  greatest player retention bungle by "the administration" in the history of the Eels"
  
  I am not sure of that, In 1987 Denis Fitgerald said we don't need to sign marquee players, our juniors will supply our needs!
  
  Sarcasm detection is very subtle Daz, I think Sledgehammers work better for many on this subject, you being a left wing and myself as a centre, we still need more speed and athletism in our background~sorry backline.
Richard B'Stard April 13, 2026 at 9:26am

I've been waiting years for Moses to grow up.
As soon as he learns to answer a question with "yes" rather than "100 percent" will be the day that he commences mental maturity.
- Randy Handlinger > Richard B'Stard April 13, 2026 at 10:10am
  
  lol
LB April 13, 2026 at 9:31am

I would argue Moses was already a captain when Gutho was here. Only now he has the name and can 'legally' can talk to the refs.

Experience in the spine is absent as well so a lot of times he is trying to carry as much as he can.

i will disagree saying he is a very good player,he is a great player. Up to Cleary standard? No, not at all but he is a great player.
As for moving him on, him leaving in some way is coming quicker than many may think. He is closer to retiring by each game. Is Lincoln Fletcher the be all and end all? Well if he comes in we have to hope Iongi and either Da Silva or Smith are established and performing as well as Talataina before he is thrown in. That can be special having a young spine taking the mental. But conversation and planning might need to happen.

Brisbane forced Reynolds decision by signing Pezet. Reynolds was considering playing on in 2027 and Pezet's signing pretty much led him to retiring. Now Moses won't be retiring until at least 2029 but if he agitates for a release do we entertain it? Well god help this site if we do but it will be interesting to see.
Randy Handlinger April 13, 2026 at 10:03am

My blog did not say to sack the captain you gaslighty twat. It said that we can't as we have no other options.

I think he is rubbish as a Captain. We need someone with natural authority to keep a lid on him, but we would have to recruit them so it's a non-starter.

I do not want to lose Moses. That would be a disaster....but we shouldn't cup his nuts and tell him his leadership isn't part of the problem
- Nightmare Off-Season > Randy Handlinger April 13, 2026 at 10:46am
  
  A lot of questions around Moses from the fan base Randy, and maybe you are spot on & he isn’t the best captain? But, as to why does he look so frustrated, emotional, different to last year….?
  
  A halfback relies heavily on their 5/8th as we know. A defence has to be wary of multiple playmakers in a side, or, they can focus more energy on the more dangerous player.
  
  Strike 1 - Mitch is on record genuinely claiming DB is the 5/8th he plays his best football with - he would know better than us. He then watched the club somehow lose DB, and hide behind the Knights record deal (a deal that never should’ve had a chance to be offered).
  
  Strike 2 - Mitch then takes part in the recruitment of Lachie Galvin, contacting Galvin personally & meeting him, a huge helping hand to R&R, then like the club, he likely believed Lachie is a signed deal before watching that fall apart & publicly.
  
  Strike 3 - Mitch sees the club hand out one of the worst contracts in its history - yes, I mean that, and its nothing against Jonah - who is very much impacting his game.
  
  Strike 4 - Mitch loses another representative player he has a combination & friendship with in Lomax, our biggest metre eater in tackles 1-3, and another vital piece falls away.
  
  Strike 5 - Our middle, another vital aspect for a half is field position & metres, and we are being demolished early putting so much pressure on every decision post-20mins in.
  
  Strike 6 - It’s not temporary, it’s not a case of hang in there for 2026 Mitch, help is on the way. Moses’ last contract, which he would’ve genuinely believed was a chance to compete for a Premiership, will be spent developing a spine & junior 5/8th into grade.
  
  If most of us saw the gaping roster holes last year, one of the elite playmakers in the game saw it well before us, and the realisation of where this club is this season, while playing injured, is a lot.
  
  Was his performance yesterday a captains knock under adversity? We all know it wasnt, but, personally find it hard to judge a player who has been so badly let down by his club.
  - Randy Handlinger > Nightmare Off-Season April 13, 2026 at 10:53am
    
    Woof

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