Expert
The Parramatta Eels have recorded a tough come from behind victory on Easter Monday over the Wests Tigers at Homebush, breaking a month-long losing streak.
Parramatta Eels 26
Wests Tigers 22
In what could be Mitchell Moses final game in a Wests Tigers jersey, he takes on his reported future club the Parramatta Eels with both sides needing to build form. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 4pm (AEST).
Moses is undoubtedly the key point coming into this match, with the star half asking for a release about a fortnight ago. It was blocked by the Tigers, but reports have been getting stronger he will be at Parramatta by the end of the season.
It’s almost certain it’s where he will play next season and the switch to the blue and gold could happen as early as this week.
The biggest thing for this game will be for both teams to switch off from all of that and everything in the media, to just get on with what they do best – playing footy.
Unfortunately, neither side has been doing it at their best so far this season and it means a lot is riding on the result of this game, with both sides well behind the eight ball.
For Parramatta, it’s getting to the point where they surely can’t play much worse. Their attack has been ordinary to say the least and with a loss to the defensively terrible New Zealand Warriors last week where they only scored two tries, there are urgent changes needed for Brad Arthur’s men.
Even with Corey Norman back from injury they have looked clueless and a four-game losing streak shows how bad things are getting – to put it simply, they haven’t been competitive since a Round 2 win against the St George Illawarra Dragons.
It leaves them 13th on the table and in desperate need of a victory. Tepai Moeroa is back into the side as well, with Frank Pritchard missing.
The Tigers, on the other hand weren’t going much better only having a single victory until last week when they pulled off a massive upset in Townsville over the North Queensland Cowboys.
Their second win of the season has moved them to 14th on the ladder, just a spot behind the Eels but they still rely on Mitchell Moses and James Tedesco far too much for anything to go their way, and if Moses does happen to leave it’s only going to get worse.
What Tigers’ supporters can hang their hat on is new coach Ivan Cleary. It was a changed attitude in defence from the club last week with Cleary in his first match and if that continues, they will start winning matches given the point-scoring potential.
Prediction
The Tigers picked up a win last week and with the Eels playing quite poorly, they should do the same on Easter Monday. Expect James Tedesco to have a field day and the Eels defence to be powerless to stop him.
Tigers by 12.
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