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.
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
New Zealand? Thats in Queensland
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
The Weekly shout out to the Bunker. We'll park that they pinged Cartwright for a one on one strip after the tackle was complete because the player hit the ground for a nano second - even though literally 10 minutes later, Sivo, fielded a kick and as he was pulled to the ground and had hit the ground, the ball was stripepd from him and play on and the Dogs score n that set. But we refer to the last try they took off the Eels. Where Simmonsen had run through his assigned gap in the defence but was deemd to have interfered with Oloapu in cover defence even though he would not have got within a bulls roar of Sivo who scored. And the logic given by the Bunker "Given Oloapu is inline with Pengai Junior, and Pengai Junior got to Mika Sivo in time to stop the try, Oloapu was denied a chance to stop the play.". There was just one problem with this logic - Pengai Junior didn't get to Sivo in time to stop the try. He barely laid a hand on him and the hand he did lay on him was while Sivo was already in flight over the tryline! It made no difference to the result but there is going to be a team, not necessairly the Eels, who rely on for and against come Finals time and if you end up on the wrong side of more than your fair share of these dud calls it is going to change the make up of the Top 8.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
It's not about Hynes getting sent the wrong message. It's all about trying to win the series. Fittler picked two fullbacks in the centres a while back and flogged the benders. It didn't matter what message he sent to the specialist centres who missed out. Slater picks the Hammer over Gagai who is a specialist centre and Origin legend. It sends all sorts of messages about pick and stick and selecting players out of position but Slater doesn't buy into that either. Hynes has every chance to fight back like any other player. The ball is in his court now. He needs to prove he can handle the pressure. It means more than winning the Dally M. Moses has steadily improved and I reckon he's gone under the radar for various reasons. He's an elite player now.
Richard POWELL
Roar Rookie
Yep. Moses can perform against a 3rd grade team with little experience. Maroons at Suncorp is a step too far for him. If Freddy picks him over Reynolds, the Suncorp specialist, he'll be signing his own death warrant.
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
Round 15 2022 Bulldogs were 13th with 4 wins , And Gould had punted Barrett. Round 15 2023 Bulldogs are 15th with 5 wins yet Ciraldo is likened to the second coming. And between them Gould/Ciraldo have coached Burton out of the origin side! I wonder with his endless media commitments and the time spend advising the other 16 clubs on their football department failures, just how much time does Gould devote to the Bulldogs weekly.
Ben Pobjie
Expert
If Dylan Brown weren’t a New Zealander, you mean?
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
I think you’re being harsh on CC. The Dogs went and signed as much talent as they could without a real plan. JAC is a great finisher, but if Dogs fans thought they were getting the Melbourne Storm version of the Fox, they’re delusional. He doesn’t have Munster, Hughes & Grant serving up tries on a platter at Belmore. Burton shone in the Panthers system, but the Dogs aren’t nearly as well drilled as the Panthers are. As an Eels fan I love that the Dogs are still shit, but you guys are just gonna have to be patient.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Junior & RCG
Phil
Roar Rookie
I'm at a loss as to what is happening at Canterbury this year. It's almost as if the talent is being coached out of the team. Burton, as we know is a fabulous player but rarely gets a mention for SOO, Pangai is left to his own devices and kills his team, Averillo is stagnant, ditto Alamoti, Kiraz and Foxx catching cold on the flanks to name a few. The only high energy duo is Mahoney and Preston. Ciraldo was heralded as the new coaching maestro, signed to a lengthy contract courtesy of Gus Gould's belief in him yet he is miles behind his former workmate at Penrith, Andrew Webster who has the Warriors up and running. I want to see Canterbury serving it up to the heavyweights, they have the talent to do so but it doesn't look like happening. Some have said they are a year off hitting their straps so I will be looking for them to be a top eight side this time next year. Some of my favourite players over the eons have worn the Berries jersey, like Les Johns, Johnny Greaves, the Mortimer boys, the Hughes boys, Hazem el Masri, George Peponis, Terry Lamb, Josh Jackson amongst others. I just hope Cameron Ciraldo does reach his potential as a coach.
Muzz Manyana
Roar Rookie
Freddy's head is spinning. He wants off this ride!
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
If Dylan Brown was available then a NSW team could potentially contain Gutho, Brown, Moses, Paolo, Mahoney and RCG. And Nathan Brown at lock cause we are long overdue for one of those completely off the radar selections. Of course, it wont. But Id like to see Gutho get a chance in the 1.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
What Eels will be there with Moses?
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Farm, I think NSW should be allowed to pick Reynolds, Hynes, Walker, Moses, Luai and Brooks. We could start with a team of 30 and Qld will still be too strong. If anyone knows Freddys game plan, which appears to be confusion, clunkiness and whatever the opposite of cohesiveness is, can you let NSW know? Cheers
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
Anyone but Moses.
Nate
Roar Rookie
We shouldnt have picked Hynes anyway, not this year atleast. Tough picking him at half when theres no other Sharks there with him (Storm even). I’d happily go with Cody and Reynolds (fingers crossed Latrell and Cam play). Or bring in Moses and RCG, and keep Yeo, Crichton and Luai. Either way, I cant see us winning if Latrells out. Up the BLUES !
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Let’s remember Mitch Moses was the one Freddie picked the last time Cleary was injured. It makes no sense to pick anyone else.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
He won’t need to do what he did today, he’ll be picked for his long kicking game which is second to none. His job will be to keep turning Qld around and make them play out of their own end all night. He’ll get the job done.
The Wollongong Ocean
Roar Rookie
They once marked DCE origin card not to play again, Moses is NSW best option….. oh, and Pearce did hold up the Origin shield.
Renegade
Roar Guru
RCG should be there instead of pangai… if Gus wasn’t picking the team that is
The Sporacle
Roar Rookie
Parra good :thumbup: What message does it send to Hynes if Fittler goes with Moses? We are seriously heading back into burning 6s and 7s if we do this. See what happens Monday, I have no idea. Wouldn't suprise me if we ended up with Brooks and Josh Reynolds