Mitchell Moses goes from maligned Parramatta Eels star to NSW saviour ahead of State of Origin clash

Mitchell Moses is used to blocking out external noise, he has been doing it his entire NRL career.

A father, a grand final player, a State of Origin representative, the Moses that will stand up against he might of Queensland next Wednesday is a far cry from the brash, at times arrogant, version that polarised fans early in his career.

After playing a sole Origin match in 2021 in a game three dead rubber, Moses has been charged with the responsibility of rescuing the Blues 2023 series.

He has beaten the likes of reigning Dally M player of the year Nicho Hynes and premiership-winning half back Adam Reynolds to earn the No.7 jersey vacated by the injured Nathan Cleary.

A fire burns in Moses to prove his detractors wrong. But his first thoughts are with Cleary, who will not get the same opportunity. 

‘Nath has been the best player for the last four years, in the comp almost, so it is unfortunate to see,’ Moses said.

‘I was upset for him, I guess, when I saw what happened to him. He had a lot of pressure on him after the game and to go and do that, and not be able to prove himself after it, is tough.

‘As a rugby league player you want to prove the critics wrong, I guess, and he doesn’t get the chance to, so it is unfortunate for him.

‘He has been the best player for the last four years, so I am just sitting behind him, I suppose.’

The assignment is simple for Moses, win and be hailed a hero, lose and the Blues series is done and he will likely take the majority of the blame.

It is huge pressure, but this Mitchell Moses is not the same one that had fans reaching for their pitchforks five years ago.

This is a new version of Moses, a mature one, one that is ready to seize the day. 

Early controversy at the Tigers

Moses got his first taste of rep footy before his debut, playing for the NSW under-20s. But it also resulted in his first NRL ban for homophobic comments

Wests Tigers young guns Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses were hailed as the future of the club. Moses is now at Parramatta and Brooks will leave the club in 2024

Moses hadn’t played a single NRL game when his name was splashed in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Wests Tigers had intended to give the young five-eighth his first-grade debut against the Sydney Roosters in 2014 when he was 19, only for the NRL to suspend Moses over a homophobic slur.

Moses called an opposition a ‘f… ing gay c…’ during the under-20s State of Origin match at Penrith the week before.

‘Obviously there is no room in the game for that stuff,’ former teammate Adam Blair said at the time.

‘The NRL has made a massive stance on it. They have come out and given him two weeks.

‘He will learn a big lesson and everyone else out there will learn [too]. It was said in the heat-of-the-moment but there is no room for that.’ 

How missing a clutch kick meant missing the NRL finals

Moses had big shoes to fill in the retiring Braith Anasta when he got his chance to play for the Wests Tigers

Moses was maligned from a very young age by harsh fans who blamed him for Wests Tigers losses that kept them out of the NRL finals

While Moses would end up getting his debut and eventually replace the retired Braith Anasta as Luke Brooks’ halves partner at the Tigers, it was far from smooth sailing.

Despite having a glittering roster including James Tedesco and Josh Addo-Carr, the Tigers could not find any form.

The club would go on to win just eight games in the 2015 season before becoming desperately unlucky in 2016, finishing in ninth place and narrowly missing out on the NRL finals.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty, but a key moment in that 2016 season came when Moses missed a regulation field goal attempt against the Melbourne Storm.

Queensland halfback Cooper Cronk punished him and the Tigers severely, slotting his one-pointer with ease for a 19-18 win.

It was a sliding doors moment that could have propelled the Tigers into the finals and Moses slumped to the turf in despair, comforted by 11-year-old ball boy Jonas Cook.

‘I just wanted to cheer him up,’ Jonas said at the time.

‘I went over and told him he played well, it was just unlucky.’

It was magnanimous of Jonas to assist Moses like that, but the drums had already started beating – Mitchell Moses cannot perform in big games, at clutch moments.

Leaving the Tigers and accusations of tanking

Moses was clearly unhappy at the Wests Tigers and was eventually granted a release to join the Parramatta Eels

Former West Tigers chair Marina Go gives Moses a hug after a match against the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville in 2017

The 2017 season was supposed to be one of great promise, with high profile coach Ivan Cleary demanding his players ‘get on the bus’ and live up their potential.

It ended in disaster, with Josh Addo-Carr, James Tedesco, Aaron Woods and even Cleary himself leaving the Tigers in 2018.

But the first player to go was Moses. Early in the season he agitated for a release to go to Parramatta. The Tigers resisted, and Moses’ form fell off a cliff.

Wests Tigers fans were scathing in response.

‘What a sook. The Tigers better not give in to this brat and give him a release,’ a fan bellowed on a Tigers chat forum.

‘No-one has a lower opinion of Moses than I do,’ added another.

‘His integrity is forever tarnished now. He will be questioned about his commitment every time he puts in a bad performance,’ echoed another.

Even Cleary himself suggested that Moses had tanked to gain a release from the club.

‘I don’t know if it is a coincidence, but things changed after that,’ he said.

‘His last two performances, his general demeanour, just suggests that he is not happy.

‘We had to come to the logical conclusion that it is best for both parties that we part ways.’

Brad Fittler gets early look at Moses at World Cup

Moses poses with Lebanon fans after the Cedars upset France 29-18 at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup

After missing out on the Australian squad, Moses applied himself to Lebanon and helped the minnow nation reach the quarter finals

Moses missed out on the Australian side for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, so was quickly scooped up by Lebanon that was being run by newly minted NSW Origin coach Brad Fittler. 

During their tenure for Lebanon, Fittler had the opportunity to closely observe Moses and gain insights into his character. 

What Fittler witnessed was beyond his expectations: an extraordinary attitude that thrived even amidst overwhelming pressure — an indispensable quality required in the intense battleground of the Origin arena.

‘If he [Moses] can have that sort of attitude under that pressure, fact is he was playing in a team [Lebanon] that was going backwards most of the time and sort of hanging on in most of the games,’ Fittler said.

‘Then he come up with big moments and it just shows he has so much more than I thought he had, on and off the field as well.

‘The way he’s so composed under pressure it seems as though he is designed for State of Origin.’ 

Rock bottom and the dreaded spoon

Moses had a rocky start at Parramatta that culminated with collecting the dreaded wooden spoon for coming last in 2018

Moses suffered deep bone bruising to his knee in 2018 to make the season even worse, plus his combination with good friend Corey Norman was not working out

If Moses thought his life was going to get easier at the Eels, he got a rude awakening in his first full season with the club.

After joining mid-way through the 2017 season, there were high hopes for 2018 with Moses getting his first pre-season at the Eels under his belt.

It started well, Moses shredding the Penrith Panthers as a prominent news outlet declared: ‘Save a place in the New South Wales Origin team for Mitch Moses in 2018’.

The halves pairing of Mitchell Moses and Corey Norman would quickly become known as oil and water, though. Unable to gel, impossible to integrate.

That win against Penrith would be one of just six times the Eels would taste success that year as they claimed the wooden spoon.

‘We just didn’t work on the field,’ a forthright Moses told NRL.com.

‘It’s as simple as that. We are actually good mates but we’re two dominant players and we struggled to find the right balance.’

The club decided they were going to split the pair and Moses was told he was free to leave.

‘It’s hard to explain how I felt when I was told,’ Moses said.

‘I’m not going to lie it was upsetting to hear that straight away after the season.

‘To be honest it was probably more motivating. It actually got me out of my comfort zone and got me training hard,; 

In light of the Wests Tigers exit and annus horribilis with the Eels, rival clubs were not coming knocking for Moses.

Fortunately for him, the Dragons eventually signed Norman and Moses survived the axe at Parramatta. He knew it was a wake-up call.

The rise of the Eels

Moses has silenced plenty of his critics in recent years, but still needs to prove he can deliver in big games to sway his detractors

The Parramatta playmaker has played an instrumental part in keeping Parramatta in the hunt for an NRL premiership and carved up the Bulldogs on the weekend

Separating Moses and Norman proved to be the Midas touch from the Parramatta Eels.

The club lifted themselves off the canvas to finish third in 2020, surging from wooden spoon to premiership contenders.

However the nagging questions over Moses ability to deliver in big games continued.

In the elimination final against South Sydney, Moses missed a penalty goal directly in front of the sticks. Adding insult to injury, that would lead to a South Sydney try.

An 18-8 halftime lead turned into a 38-24 season-ending loss.

While the Eels were not as dominant in 2021, the club still did enough to finish sixth on the ladder and reach the NRL finals once again.

Ultimately they would bow out in a tough 8-6 loss to eventual premiers Penrith. Beaten, but far from disgraced.

Then in 2022 the Eels would surge all the way to the grand final, largely off the back of Moses’ playmaking brilliance behind a dominant forward pack.

Ready to step up in big games

Moses was identified as a special talent early in his career and represented the NSW under-20s side before his NRL debut

Moses got his first shot at State of Origin in 2021 during the dead rubber game three match won by Queensland

For all that Moses has achieved, the nagging accusations that he cannot deliver in big games remain.

While he has had numerous clutch performances for the Eels over the years, the spectres of his one Origin appearance for one Origin loss and a grand final failure hang around his neck.

When it comes to big stages, they don’t get more goliath than this.

New South Wales must win to keep the Origin series alive. They are playing in Brisbane, where the Blues have only won three times in game II matches in the NRL era.

The Queenslanders will be at home, in their cauldron and blowing steam out of their ears in anticipation.

The Maroons have a 1-0 advantage and now head to their home cauldron at Suncorp Stadium where the Blues have only won three times in the NRL era in game two Origin matches

The Blues were stunned in game one and making matters worse for them, Nathan Cleary (right) has been ruled out with a hamstring injury

If New South Wales lose, Moses’ legacy of failing in big games will be amplified – rightly or wrongly.

But in that single cameo – in a dead rubber in the 2021 series – Moses proved that he could take punishment and keep going, playing 70 minutes with a fractured back.

‘I was just biting down on my mouth guard for 70 minutes and tried my best because I didn’t want to let anyone down,’ Moses said after leading Parramatta to a 34-12 win over Canterbury on Sunday.

‘It was unfortunate that we didn’t get the win that night, but we’d wrapped up the series in the first two games.

‘It was a good opportunity and a great experience, but it was tough.

‘I got hit pretty early in the game and I was pretty much biting down on the mouth guard and did my best.’

In recent years, too, Moses has also shown a calmer demeanour that had eluded him in the early stages of his NRL career.

Moses has a young daughter now and is relishing the responsibilities that come with fatherhood and being a leader at his NRL club Parramatta

Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur has seen the step up in maturity in Moses and believes he is ready for the big moments that State of Origin brings

According to Eels coach Brad Arthur, the experience of becoming a father has had a calming influence on his team’s halfback. This newfound perspective is evident in Moses’ ability to remain patient and seize opportunities as they arise. 

‘He’s been close to the main reason I changed my game since I came to the club,’ Moses said.

‘I wanted to throw long balls and get the points easily, I didn’t want to play the long game.

‘He has slowly taught me how to do that and I’ve had some pretty good halves coaches in the last few years in Joey (Johns) and Trent Barrett.

‘Those guys have helped me massively, Brad’s changed my game from a highlight reel to be able to control games and finish off games.’