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"I hope he backflips": Tigers refuse to release Moses

Mitchell Moses (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville)
18th April, 2017
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Mitchell Moses will have to wait at least one more week to play for Parramatta, with the star five-eighth unable to secure a release on Tuesday.

Wantaway Moses was named as part of the Tigers’ 21-man squad for their clash with the Bulldogs, after Tuesday’s 4pm deadline for this weekend passed without a release.

It meant that Parramatta were unable to select him in their extended squad for Saturday’s match with Penrith.

Under the NRL’s new team-list guidelines, coaches can only select from the 21 players named on Tuesday in a bid to uphold the integrity of the game.

The NRL drew a line in the sand earlier in the season when they refused to allow mid-week recruit Dale Copley to run out for the injury-ravaged Gold Coast – a precedent that will end any hopes Brad Arthur had of immediately piloting Moses into his halves.

The Tigers are refusing to let Moses go without a fight and are understood to be playing hard ball with Parramatta over their negotiations for the 22-year-old.

It is believed the Tigers are not willing to grant Moses an immediate release to join the Eels unless they are given compensation.

A day after telling the media he “wouldn’t have a clue” what was happening with his contract, Moses arrived early at the Tigers headquarters at Concord on Monday before joining the team at an off-site recovery session before returning for video work.

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However his teammates remain unsure of his immediate future, having last heard from Moses on the matter days after he signed a three-year deal to join Parramatta in 2018.

“It’s all up in the air at the moment,” Tigers forward Sauaso Sue said.

“He spoke to us before the Cowboys game and let us know what’s happening and that’s what has been said.

“But not since then.”

Moses’ three-year deal from next season with Parramatta is yet to be announced due to the NRL’s strict 10-day cooling-off period.

The window allows players to backflip on deals before they are confirmed to the public, and his Tigers teammates are hopeful they can repeat the work of former captain Robbie Farah, who convinced fullback James Tedesco to renege on a deal with Canberra in 2014.

“A lot of us probably have (tried),” Sue said.

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“We’d love him to stay. I hope he backflips like Teddy did with Canberra. I hope he stays.”

Moses’ worth to the Tigers is evident in the fact regular halves partner Luke Brooks is still to fully overcome a hamstring injury, and has been named on the extended bench.

They will also lack a first-choice goal-kicker if he is released in the coming weeks.

Potential makeshift halves Jordan Rankin and Justin Hunt have previously kicked, while the off-contract Tedesco has never attempted a conversion in the NRL but has filled in during trial matches.

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