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If there was any doubt about Mitch Moses’ credentials as an Origin halfback, they were put to bed in the first 40 minutes of Parramatta’s 34-12 win over the Bulldogs in the King’s Birthday clash at Accor Stadium.
The Eels raced into a 24-6 lead before the break, with Moses at the heart of everything, ably assisted by captain Clint Gutherson, who scored a hat trick.
There was a feeling of one in, one out: Tevita Pangai junior, in a game where he absolutely had to impress to have any chance of retaining his Blues jumper, was directly responsible for two vital early tries, both created by Moses and scored by Gutherson.
Parra had far too much for the Dogs in the end, cruising to the win on the back of that first half. For a coach who so prioritises the start, Brad Arthur will have been overjoyed.
“He was very good and I think since his contract stuff has been sorted he’s been clear on what he brings to the team,” said the coach on Moses.
“I have no doubt he can do that for NSW. Teams can try and put him under pressure but his kicking game, he never seems to miss and you add his running game to it.
“But the biggest improvement has been in his defence, he’s made for Origin.”
Conversely, Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo will lament another performance that flattered to deceive. The building blocks are there, but with a side that has nine of the 17 have 30 NRL appearances or fewer, it is perhaps understandable that they look a little raw.
His side were decent when they got the football, and never lacked adventure, but were dominated through the middle by a powerful Parra pack and struggled to build any significant field position.
“Defensively we were terrible,” said the Dogs coach. “A lot of lack of effort off the ball, no togetherness in our defence and just some really poor tackling which pisses me off the most.”
“We’ve got young players but we’ve also got some older guys there that need to do better. The young players are going to learn on the run and are going to make mistakes but I didn’t feel like they made a lot of them tonight.
“I thought our best three players were Karl Oloapu, Khaled Rajab and Jacob Preston so we need the more experienced guys to help them.”
This could have gone very differently indeed for the Eels. They were missing Dylan Brown, stood down by the NRL, and Josh Hodgson, a late withdrawal with a neck injury.
But within five minutes, it was all settled. Gutherson, consistently their best this year, was the man who kicked it off with the opener, before Moses took over the show.
The halfback was under intense scrutiny, with the NSW squad set to be named tomorrow morning and his direct competition, Nicho Hynes, having fluffed his lines in the Sharks’ defeat to Melbourne.
If Brad Fittler was looking for temperament under pressure, he got it. Moses was the game’s exceptional player, adding plenty of flair to his usual set-and-forget kicking.
The command of the attack was seen in two tries for Gutherson, while even his defence got a showcase via a second half trysaver on Jacob Preston.
It wasn’t just Moses making an Origin case. Reagan Campbell-Gillard was back after two months out but didn’t miss a beat, picking up his combination with Junior Paulo seamlessly.
Brad Fittler might point to his lack of match fitness, but given the options up front for the Blues, he could do a lot worse.
Top of the list of players who might need replacing from Game 1 is Tevita Pangai junior, who had a shocker on the day when he most needed to be at his best to impress the NSW coach.
TPJ was caught out twice by Moses for first half tries, and both times, it was his own hubris that did for him. Pangai overran the ball attempting to lay a statement shot on the halfback, only for Moses to circumvent him with smart play, finding the space where the prop should have been.
The green shoots for the Bulldogs this season are there for everyone to see. Everyone knows that this is year one of the Ciraldo project, with expectations adjusted accordingly. Throw in the injury crisis to end all injury crises and fans were largely left looking for a team that had a crack and played some footy.
The key to coaching is winning, but if you can’t win, you can at least give supporters the feeling that the team is going somewhere. This Bulldogs team is certainly doing that.
The showing today was less than stellar, but there were plenty of small bits to get fans excited.
Karl Oloapu’s assist for Matt Burton’s try in the first half was exceptional, the sort of tackle-busting, powerful run that those who turn up early for reserve grade have seen plenty of this year. On top of that, he made over 25 tackles while playing in the halves. The kid is 18.
Khaled Rajab, who entered in the second half, also carried the form that has seen him jump from Flegg to Cup to the NRL just over a year.
Despite playing as the world’s smallest lock forward, the Lebanese international was zipping about, picking passes and bringing all the energy that was on show at the World Cup last year.
Hayze Perham, too, had one of his best offensive games, while Preston and Paul Alamoti continue their strong starts in first grade. There’s so much upside to keep fans going, even on days when things don’t go great.