By Dan Walsh
After 80 minutes of Origin I last Wednesday, most had Mitchell Moses taking the NSW No.7 jersey off Nicho Hynes.
After 40 minutes on Monday, the tailor had the tape out and the Eels star weighed and measured for a new sky-blue kit.
But another 40 minutes later, when Canterbury had worn a critical sin-binning and at one point a 1-9 penalty count, yet still ran Parramatta and Moses down?
Maybe a hint of doubt for Michael Maguire?
Not enough to shift Moses from pole position given Hynes performed reasonably, without shooting the lights out, against the Dolphins on Thursday, before missing a conversion that would have sent the match into extra time after the hooter.
The Origin audition is something of a fallacy anyway and Hynes’s miserable last outing for Cronulla before game one - a couple of punts out on the full, a HIA, a calf complaint and not much else - is proof enough.
He was still the Blues chief playmaker 24 hours later, even with the knowledge he couldn’t train to start the campaign because he wasMichael Maguire’s best option.
Moses has been back from a broken foot for 160 minutes. Long enough to challenge that.
He’s got another 80 against the Roosters on Saturday to lock in a fourth NSW Origin appearance. Playing with a back fracture for 70 minutes on debut and starring in a dead-rubber win last year are the highlights so far.
Mitchell Moses is a last-start winner in NSW Origin colours.Credit: Getty
In the eyes of most, Moses is already on the Blues bus. But the Roosters have all the makings of a premiership heavyweight, albeit the NRL’s most unpredictable, which puts the Eels halfback on show.
As one of the game’s best last-tackle exponents, Moses’ game management, grounded in a five-star kicking game, is his biggest point of difference compared to Hynes.
For 40 minutes against the Bulldogs, Moses proved it, controlling the contest to near-perfection.
Hynes was always up against it in Origin I once Joseph Suaalii was sent off.
But a left-foot grubber of his resulted in a seven-tackle set and Queensland’s opening try came a few minutes later, and spoke to nerves as much as anything given it seemed so far removed from his usual approach with Cronulla.
On the same Accor Stadium turf a few days later, Moses kept his cards tight. One early right-edge shift had him hitting Bryce Cartwright as a lead runner and causing headaches for Canterbury’s defence.
The next play down the same channel, Cartwright was one of two decoys in a precise set play for Parramatta’s first try.
Moses linked with Dylan Brown half a dozen times throughout the first half hour, kicked Connor Tracey into a corner and marshalled his runners smartly.
Not until the 34th minute did he take on the Bulldogs line. But his first run was ruthless, streaking past a rushing Jaeman Salmon and a lagging Josh Curran, stepping, flick-passing and sparking another Parramatta try.
The next 40 minutes were not so easy on the eyes.
Canterbury dragged out one of the club’s best wins in recent times as the Eels and Moses failed to finish off the contest, despite leading 18-10 when Kurt Mann was sin-binned in the 55th minute.
A different twist or turn in this 10-minute period, and Parramatta could have taken a match-winning lead.
One well-placed Moses bomb almost brought Tracey unstuck. Another cross-field kick forced a repeat set because Will Penisini would have scored if he had caught it.
Just like the 40-20 Hynes almost kicked in Origin, and the 40-20 Daly Cherry-Evans kicked straight after, and even the 20-40 Hynes so nearly nailed against the Dolphins, it was a matter of centimetres.
Elsewhere for Parramatta though, it was a matter of management. Aside from the kick for Penisini, the Eels two best attacking chances against a 12-man defence were bombed in surprising fashion.
Moses fired one short ball without looking in and out of Shaun Lane’s hands.
Five minutes later and rolling off a quick play-the-ball, a stumble and pass to Reagan Campbell-Gillard ended in similar fashion.
Bulldogs players fed off each error and eventually overwhelmed the Eels, who eschewed percentage plays for knockout blows and were held scoreless for the last 36 minutes of a thriller.
Can’t win ’em all, of course, and Moses has proven himself in big games previously. Hynes is still yet to truly do so.
No time like right now for Moses to nail that sky blue No.7 to the wall.
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