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Woods, Teddy and Moses have made their beds. Now lie in them

Roar Pro
14th April, 2018
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James Tedesco (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Roar Pro
14th April, 2018
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5134 Reads

How must Aaron Woods, Mitchell Moses and, to a lesser extent, James Tedesco be feeling right now?

All three Wests Tigers 2017 deserters have somehow managed to find themselves in more or less the same position as last year, despite jumping the club’s fence to ‘greener’ pastures.

Alas, like some reserve-grade nightmare, lowly ladder positions, negative press, rumours of instability, cap dramas, player frictions and finger pointing have somehow followed the trio into their 2018 season and clubs.

But wait, wasn’t this supposed to be just a Wests Tigers problem? Last year, Woods told Fox Sports his decision to join the seemingly stable kennel walls of Canterbury “was a hard decision but at the Tigers there are a lot of ups and downs, a lot of instability”.

So having 14 players coming off contract and having only $800,000 to spend in 2019 was the stability you were after at Bankstown, was it, Woods? Good luck.

Aaron Woods of the Bulldogs

(Will Russell/Getty Images)

Woods was aware of the cap freedom the Tigers were going to have this season. The board had replaced Jason Taylor with the most respected and reputable coach available and had signalled their intentions to be active in the player market during the offseason.

To just assume that everything was going to be hunky-dory at another club was ignorant. To not have been able to see that the Tigers were at the end of a cycle where previous mistakes and mismanagement were coming to an end was visionless.

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As a matter of fact, when considering the 2018 form of Woods, Moses and Tedesco, you’d have to wonder if they were all holding the Tigers back a cog or two.

Player efforts this year say that the Tigers playing group is happier. They have been strong, workman-like, hard and, dare I say, team-like. ‘No big three, no worries’ is the sub-slogan of the club’s 2018 ‘on the bus’ motto.

Mitchell Moses of the Eels

(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

And what about Mitchell Moses? After being a breath of fresh air for Parramatta last year, he seems to have sunk back into the more accustomed role of petulant blame-shifter. Only a couple of weeks ago, and not the first time in his career, Moses was heard screaming abuse on the field – but this time at a teammate.

And then there’s Tedesco – the biggest scalp of all and possibly the most disappointing in 2018 so far. His decision to go to Bondi was apparently not about the money; it was about playing with good players, finals football and Anthony Minichiello.

However, James hasn’t found his feet.

Many Roosters, Eels and Dogs fans are rightfully raising unimpressed eyebrows as they collectively scramble for their receipts and the NRL’s returns desk.

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On the other side of the fence, Luke Brooks and his teammates are enjoying life without the dramas, the egos, the off-field snipes and the ‘instability’.

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