Why Brad Arthur flicked switch on Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown to spark Parramatta’s attack

Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur has flicked the switch in a huge tactical change he hopes will inspire his team’s attack.

Brad Arthur has revealed the reason behind his shock role reversals for halves Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown this season, and why it could be the secret to sparking Parramatta’s struggling attack.

While there was a lot of talk about how rusty the Eels appeared in their hard fought 16-6 trial loss to Penrith on Saturday night, what a lot of people seemed to have overlooked was how Arthur had made a significant change over the summer by moving his edge combinations to the opposite sides they were playing last year.

Moses and backrower Ryan Matterson previously played on the right last year but are now on the left, while Brown and Shaun Lane have made the opposite move.

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“We planned on doing it half way through last year,” Arthur explained.

“We sort of talked about it a bit to make it a bit easier for Dylan around kicking.

Eels coach Brad Arthur speaks with Mitchell Moses during a Parramatta Eels training session at Kellyville Park in Sydney.

“Dylan probably prefers to play on the right and Mitchell prefers the left.

“I just didn’t want to do it mid-season last year so we had an opportunity pre-season to work on it.

“And Laney and Dylan had sort of formed a reasonable combination, and it was the same with Matto and Mitchy and they wanted to still play together.

“So we just made the changes.”

And while the Eels admittedly looked a little off the pace, this was the first opportunity to put those changes into practice in a game situation.

It easy to forget Brown is still only 20 while Moses is 26 but they still managed to take the Eels to a third placed finish during the regular season last year.

Brad Arthur with Mitch Moses during Parramatta Eels training. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Of course the expectation on Arthur this year is that he has to get the team to rise to the next level in the big end-of-season games, and this is where getting the halves combination right now could be crucial.

No one is going to care how the Eels played in their only trial in February if it ultimately means it makes the team play better come September.

And while there’s no question Penrith’s halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai took the points on the night, Arthur certainly wasn’t concerned with what he took home from Penrith.

“It was pretty fast,” he said.

“I just thought both teams were too tired to get into position for a lot of shape because it was that fast.

“But it is going to take a bit of getting used to.

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“We have now had a bit of a chance to practice it so we will see how it goes.

“I was expecting (it to be a bit rusty) but I wasn’t expecting the speed (of the game).

“I don’t think Penrith threw a lot either. I think both teams just wanted to get in, make their tackles, and get some timing going.

“We didn’t want to put on too much either. We just wanted to make sure we got our kick chase going and get a bit of a blow which is what we did.”

The Eels now take on Brisbane at Suncorp in round one.

Originally published as Why Brad Arthur flicked switch on Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown to spark Parramatta’s attack