Mitch Moses Has Mixed Debut For Parramatta

"It was ok"


Article heading image for Mitch Moses Has Mixed Debut For Parramatta

Parramatta coach Brad Arthur believes it's going to take time for Mitchell Moses to acclimatise to the new club - time the Eels don't have to make a serious push for the NRL finals.

Making his first appearance for the Eels since the saga of his move from the Wests Tigers, Moses had a mixed evening as his new side went down 22-16 against Canberra on Saturday night.

The 22-year-old showed flashes of the playmaking ability that had him touted as a future State of Origin player, but also came up with poor options on last-tackle plays.

He also struggled defensively after being targeted by Josh Papalii, finishing the night with six missed tackles.

Arthur gave Moses a pass given he had only arrived at the club on Tuesday, however was quick to remind the playmaker that a quick adjustment is needed to kick their campaign into gear.

Asked what he thought of Moses' performance, he said: "Yeah, it was okay.

"Couple of wrong kick options, but other than that, he's had two training sessions with us so it's going to take a bit of time, but the problem is we don't have a lot of time.

"We need to start to win some games."

He admitted it wasn't easy for any player to come in and contribute straight away, but admonished his men for being too lateral against the Raiders.

The Eels enjoyed 41 plays inside the Raiders' 20-metre zone at ANZ Stadium compared to 10.

"It's not easy for anyone to come in," Arthur said.

"You could see we put ourselves in positions down on the tryline and we just at times, went a bit sideways.

"You could tell that we've only had two sessions together."

Moses declined to talk to reporters post-game but admitted to Fox Sports after the match that he had been in a better frame of mind since his drawn-out contract saga came to end.

The Eels on Tuesday signed Moses to a two-and-a-half-year deal.

"I've got security now and I know what I'm doing and I'm pretty safe," he told Fox Sports.

"I probably should have ended some of the sets a bit better but I'll learn from that. I thought we stayed in it in that first half when we started off pretty slow.

"It was our goal to start fast but we didn't do that. We should have closed out that game."

The Eels were also hit by injury during the match, with lock Nathan Brown sent to hospital for scans on a rib issue and Michael Jennings hurting his quad.

-AAP

21 May 2017




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