Moses given green light
Eels coach Brad Arthur has given Mitch Moses the green light to face the Panthers in Friday’s grudge match, with Parramatta looking to extend their incredible recent record as Penrith’s bogey team.
Moses battled through a groin injury against the Bulldogs in round 1 and didn’t train on Tuesday, but he’s good to go, with the Eels to decide after the captain’s run whether he will do the bulk of the kicking or let Dylan Brown take over.
“He’s right to play,” Arthur said.
“It was just a precaution (for him to not train on Tuesday).
This time of the year, we didn’t need to get him out there to train because he’s done plenty of combinations with Dylan.
“If Mitch was to get injured in the game, we could put someone else there from the starting 17, so it was actually a good thing for him to have a rest.
“Mitch is tough, and he’s too tough for his own good. We saw that at the back-end of the game the other day when we asked him not to kick, but the result was very important to him. He had a job to do and he
Kiwi Ferns champion Georgia Hale will push for a maiden NRLW premiership with the Titans after signing a long-term deal with last year’s grand finalists.
The Golden Boot winner and Titans captain will stay with the club until the end of 2026, a twoyear extension on top of her current deal.
It’s a huge commitment for Hale, who is currently visiting her partner Sam Lisone in the UK, and won’t return to Australia until May to prepare for the NRLW season.
Lisone, an ex-Warriors and Titans player, has a contract with the Leeds Rhinos until the end of 2025, forcing the long-term couple to manage a long distance relationship internationally.
However, Hale is at the peak of her powers in Australia with the NRLW after leading the Kiwi Ferns to a shock victory over the Jillaroos in last year’s Pacific Championships.
Last year’s grand final opposite Newcastle was also the first decider for the Titans as a club.
The 28-year-old was awarded the Golden Boot as best female player in the world at the end of a massive season which included topping the competition tackle count with 501, with an efficiency of 99 per cent. wanted to continue doing it for us.
“He wouldn’t have kicked if he didn’t think he could do the job and he could have aggravated and made it worse.”
Having Moses on deck is a huge boost for the Eels, who can sink the boot into the defending premiers who were held scoreless in round 1 and have lost their past four regular season games against their local rivals.
Moses nailed the winning field goal in their first meeting but missed the game at the end of the season as the Eels stunned Penrith back into life on the eve of the finals.
No one at Parramatta has been willing to say what they’ve done so well against a team that rarely loses, but Arthur summed it up with a fairly simple explanation.
“We have to be (at our best) because they are so good,” he said, with Parramatta’s ability to offload often breaking down Penrith’s defence.
“We’re very comfortable with the team that we’ve got and we know on our day that we can match it with the best teams.
“The thing that we’re working hard on is we need to bring that every week. These guys (Penrith) bring it out in you because if you don’t bring your best then they’ll embarrass you.”
While the Eels have dominated the regular season, the Panthers have beaten them when it matters most with three recent victories in the finals, including a dominant win in the 2022 decider. “They’ve got us in the main games that matter, so those are the ones that probably hurt the most,” Moses said. “It’s a new season with new players so we’re not looking to the past and the record. We’ve got to come out and back up the performance we put in against the Bulldogs.” Friday’s derby pits the two NSW Blues halfbacks from 2023 against each other, with Moses lavishing praise on Nathan Cleary.