This article in the Daily Telegraph today :
SORRY, GUTHO
MOSES REPENTANT AFTER BLASTING CAPTAIN
PARRAMATTA halfback Mitchell Moses apologised to skipper Clinton Gutherson after going overboard in an on-field spat during the Eels’ commanding 40-12 win over Wests Tigers at Bankwest Stadium on Sunday.
Fox Sports audio picked up Moses telling his captain “Gutho, quick Gutho, f... off” as the pair argued over whether to take a quick tap or shoot for goal late in the game.
They also exchanged words at halftime and during different stages of the game, but Moses had no issues with the reprimand he received.
“I thought he was trying to take a quick tap and I gave him a little bit of a spray and he goes ‘mate, don’t speak to me like that’,” Moses said.
“I realised what I did and said ‘sorry, mate’. We’re in the heat of the battle and Gutho knows I mean it in the best way possible.
“I love Gutho. He’s one of my best mates in the team. We are sweet.”
Coach Brad Arthur was not surprised to hear the pair had clashed.
“They are like that at training,’’ Arthur said. “They spray each other from the time they walk on the field to the time they get off.
“That’s fine as long as it’s all in good spirit. That’s the relationship they’ve got.”
Moses added: “When he speaks, everyone listens. Everyone in the team has so much respect for Gutho, including myself.
“If he gives you a spray it’s coming from a good place.”
Moses went from zero to hero in a stunning 15-minute transformation that blew away the Wests Tigers.
The Eels led by just eight at halftime but a Moses-inspired three-try blitz in the first 10 minutes of the second half set-up a resounding 40-12 victory.
From holding his head in his hands to holding it high as man-of-thematch, Moses scored a try and engineered two more early in the second half after earlier botching an easy four-pointer.
The No.7 swallowed a Gutherson grubber kick four minutes from halftime, diving over for what appeared a certain try and a 20-0 lead to the Eels.
But the bunker found the smallest of knock-ons and denied the try.
The Tigers made the most of the let-off, sweeping up the other end of the field to score through Jacob Liddle.
Just like that, a 20-point advantage was cut to a nervous eight-point lead and it was game back on.
Moses could have crawled into a hole but took it upon himself to make up for the embarrassing mistake.
It was his roof-high bomb just after the break that forced a dropped ball from Tigers fullback Daine Laurie, leaving Waqa Blake to pick up the scraps and score under the posts.
Moses did it all himself two minutes later, slicing through and outpacing the defence in a thrilling 65m run to the line.
As an encore, he produced two double pumps before sending Maika Sivo over in the corner and kicking the sideline conversion on 50 minutes. It swept Parramatta to an unassailable 32-6 lead – all three tries coming while Tigers forward Shawn Blore was in the sin bin for a professional foul. Moses finished with 20 points from a try and eight goals.
Eels forward Isaiah Papali’i finished the game in the sin bin after being reported for dropping a knee on Luciano Leilua.
HOW THE WEST WAS LOST
You have to go back to 2018, when Ivan Cleary was in charge, to find the last time the Tigers beat Parramatta.
Since that day, the Eels have won seven straight. The Tigers were all heart and determination but unforced errors, ill-discipline and a poor start to the second half cost them dearly.
Replies
Tad, this is professional sport, they're playing for keeps. Players have to have a thick skin. It's never personal.
Brett some people will accept that others will not. Everybody is different.Its always good to think about doubt unless you know the personalities in an intimate way
Oh sure, there are different personalities, but players feelings cannot be a consideration. When you get to that level you cannot expect people to consider your feelings, you have to be tougher.
Players always consider feelings Brett. You only have to see players show some support for a mate who makes an error to lift their emotional spirit. They also jump out of their skin when a good try is scored. If you have no emotion you are not human.
I didn't say they don't have feelings or don't show them, of course they do Tad, but a players feelings cannot be a consideration when a coach makes his decisions or when he needs to give a player some home truths. Players have to be emotionally tough at the elite level. It's a dog eat dog industry.
You've seriously got to get past this idea that people have to be nice to each other in order to function.
Nice and honest works best at so many people management levels Brett
This is professional sport Tad, these are elite players getting paid big money to play the game they love, it isn't a normal workplace. The normal management rules don't apply. If a player can't handle a bit of straight talk from his coach or a fellow player he's got no business playing any sport professionally.
On the sporting field? Been a while since I played any decently competitive sport but I'm sure I've been told that or similar by a team mate and said it too. It's heat of the moment stuff with your adrenaline up you say things that you wouldn't say around the dinner table. Also as Brett states this is professional sport the stakes are even higher.
It might be too presumptuous to pass it off as just a commonplace on-field heat of the moment thing. It's a constant habitual thing - on & off the field - with these two. Arthur admitted it.
Possibly but just proves that it's a thing that their relationship allows. Although Gutho might have had the shits that Moses said it during a game in front of the viewing public. It's all good.
If it was Dunster doing it you would raise both eyebrows but it's Moses who as I said, is pretty much co captain in all but name.
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