Rattling around in Johns’ pocket were a handful of coins, brought specifically for the occasion.

“Joey humorously threw coins on the table, he said we might not have enough salt and pepper shakers,” Ryan recalled.

“So we used them every now and then.”

Every coin and condiment represented a rugby league player, to be shuffled around the table like figurines in a military strategy session, as Ryan put Moses through a playmaking tutorial.

Johns had seen this all before. During their time together at Newcastle, Ryan would use a 10 cent piece or a bottle of tomato sauce to distil the art of halfback play to its essence. Now it was Moses’ turn at the table of knowledge, taking a seat alongside a league Immortal, the wily old premiership-winning coach and his current one, Brad Arthur.

“Warren taught me so much about the game in the two years he coached me,” said Johns, who is now a halves consultant on the Parramatta payroll.

“Pretty much all of his philosophies about halfback play are what I’m trying to pass on, especially to Mitchell.

“I just thought I’d get them together.

“When I used to go for an occasional beer with Warren when he was coaching me, I’d always have some coins there. He loves to get them and put them out.

“There’s no cuddles in Warren with what he says. I warned Mitchell and told him what he’s like. He wasn’t nasty in any way, he just hits you between the eyes with what he thinks.

“Warren spoke about his views on the game, how he sees the halfback position changing, where he thought Mitchell could improve. It was pretty cool actually.

“Mitchell seemed to get a lot out of it”.

It didn’t take long for Ryan and Moses to hit it off. Ryan had coached Moses’ uncle, Ben Elias, during their Balmain days.

“It was a good insight to speak to one of the best coaches to ever coach footy,” Moses said.

“He coached my uncle way back when he was playing, so it was something special.

“I took a lot out of the meeting.”

It has been the knock on Moses throughout his career. It is often said that, when things are going well, the Parramatta playmaker can help his side turn an advantage into an avalanche of points. But not so much when his side really needs him.

It’s a stinging assessment which, valid or otherwise, will linger until he is part of a premiership team.

“Halfbacks can dance Swan Lake behind dominant forward packs, but it’s very hard to play behind a beaten pack when you’re in the halves,” Ryan observed.

“I did say that Joey was able to pick the pack up and carry it when it was in trouble.”

Or as Johns put it: “You need a plan to rescue your forwards.”

To illustrate the point, Ryan referred to a match the Eels lost to Penrith in round 18 last year. For most of the encounter, the Parramatta pack was pinned in its own quarter, unable to advance into enemy territory.

“His forwards were dying on their own try line,” Ryan said. “I said you need to add ways to relieve pressure on the pack, you can’t just stand there and watch them get bashed on their line.

“It’s not about running crossfield and turning someone under with your back to the opposition. That’s pointless, you’re no threat, that’s just saying ‘It’s too hard for me’ and giving it to someone else who is easily identified and gets hammered.”

This is where the great halfbacks, like Johns, change the course of events. The momentum-shifting play could come via a long ball to a centre, a subtle shift or using one’s own running game. But more often than not, according to the man dubbed ‘Wok’, it is about better utilising your teammates.

“You need a bigger repertoire [in attack] than what you’ve got to use the players around you,” was Ryan’s advice to Moses.But Ryan wants to see more of this:

“He also has that priceless gift of speed. I saw him go down the outside and score the first try at [Bankwest Stadium] and thought, geez, he’s got some speed. I said ‘Joey didn’t have the raw speed you’ve got and that you’re not utilising it to your best effect’.

“The best speedsters can float and gap-hop.”

Some of the great exponents of the skill, according to Ryan, were Graeme Langlands, David Peachey and Greg Alexander. They would “glide” across the field, with players in motion all around them, each posing a question for the defence to answer.

To underscore the point, the quartet pored over vision of a try that Panthers pivot Jarome Luai set up against the Cowboys in round 19.

It unfolded like this; Luai gets early ball from his hooker, notices there are only two defenders on the blindside, puts them under pressure by scampering towards them, creates a mismatch by dishing the ball to Viliame Kikau as they are retreating, who makes a break that Stephen Crichton finishes.

It’s the sort of play Ryan wants to see regularly from Moses.

“There needs to be floating, subtlety and ball-playing in a bloke’s repertoire when he’s working across field with runners and decoys,” he said. “You need a lot of things going for you - the second-rower, the centre, the fullback and the winger. [The halfback] is the fifth bloke and the orchestrator of it all. He can be highly threatening if he has all of these other blokes creating danger while he floats and ball-plays and does his thing. They also need to make sure they don’t crowd him, the dummy runners, they need to let him do his thing.”

When Moses asked how to best utilise his teammates, Ryan turned and looked directly at Arthur.

“That’s your job,” he said.

A new dawn?

Parramatta’s first NRL game of the year, against Brisbane, isn’t until Friday, but already keen observers have picked up on a change in the way the Eels attack. In their final trial against Penrith, Moses switched roles with halves partner Dylan Brown and began patrolling the left side of the field. This is how they plan to attack for the season ahead.

It was the first chance for Moses to put into practice some of Ryan’s teachings, which focused primarily on his play at second receiver. If it all comes together, the former Tiger could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of a game that has been artificially accelerated by the new rule changes.

“The way footy is now, it’s real flat and fast, it’s real quick like it used to be,” Moses said.

“The things that worked back then are coming back into the game and working now.

“There are little things [Ryan] tipped me up on that I can work on.”

The challenge for Parramatta is to turn finals appearances into a premiership. The last halfback to steer the side to grand final glory was Peter Sterling. That was 35 year ago. Every player who has subsequently worn the famous No.7 jersey has carried the twin burdens of comparison and expectation.

Moses, already one of the most maligned players of the competition, is expected to take the team back to glory.

“They are close, but they are not quite there as a club. It will take something extra special to get a premiership,” Ryan said.

“A lot of that has to come from Mitch. It’s there, he’s got the ability, no doubt about that.

“He is gifted. He’s got the pass, he knows who to hit with the ball and he’s got that gift of speed. He’s got plenty.”