Wests Tigers Mitchell Moses never worried he’d be denied Benji match-up after that Zillman tackle

MITCHELL Moses never thought for a second he would miss any game time for that tackle on William Zillman.

William Zillman (right) of Gold Coast Titans is tackled by Mitchell Moses of West Tigers during the 2015 NRL Season opener at the Cbus Super Stadium, Robina, Gold Coast.Picture: Regi Varghese

MITCHELL Moses never thought for a second he would miss any game time for that tackle on William Zillman.

Moses was considered a real chance to miss Monday night’s showdown with Benji Marshall — the player who made his Wests Tigers No.6 jumper cool — because of the stiff-arm effort on the Gold Coast.

There were some suggestions Moses was facing up to six weeks out after he was placed on report.

Social media went into meltdown after Moses’ clothesline tackle, then again when he avoided suspension.

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Many thought Moses got off lightly after this hit on William Zillman.

Speaking for the first time about the ugly hit on Zillman, Moses told The Daily Telegraph: “I wasn’t too worried, I didn’t swing my arm or have a clenched fist.

“He wrong-footed me with a step, and I hung my arm out and collected him a bit.

“It looked bad — it didn’t look too good at all — and with the crowd screaming ‘send him off’, it didn’t really help.

“There was definitely no intent. Even the ref sent it up to the video ref and after they watched it (they agreed) there was no intent with the swinging arm.

“Having no recent incidents helped get me off.’’

Moses apologised to Zillman at the time, but there had been no contact since.

Tigers captain Robbie Farah went into bat for his young five-eighth, and said if Dragons winger Eto Nabuli had escaped sanction for a similar effort in the World Club Challenge, then Moses was never entitled to be worried.

Moses would have dreaded being rubbed out of the Tigers’ first home game at Campbelltown on Monday — and more importantly the chance to go up against the man who provided him with so many pointers when he first came into the full-time squad.

“Benji taught me so much when he was here at the Tigers, he helped me and Luke (Brooks) out a whole heap, and I can’t thank him enough,’’ Moses said.

Moses is looking forward to going up against former teammate Benji Marshall on Monday night.

“Going up against him, he’s an off-the-cuff player, and you have to be on your toes all the time. When he’s got the ball in his hands, you don’t know what he will do.

“He’ll kick on the first tackle — he’s the sort of player who can catch you off guard.’’

The Tigers were expected to blow the Gold Coast off the park last Saturday, especially with five Titans missing because of the cocaine crisis. They could only escape with a one-point win courtesy of a Pat Richards’ 80th-minute field goal.

Moses said the first-half completion was ordinary, but they knuckled down in the second half.

“Playing as bad as we did and still coming away with the win means we have come away with a lot of confidence,’’ Moses said.

Originally published as Wests Tigers Mitchell Moses never worried he’d be denied Benji match-up after that Zillman tackle