Mitchell Moses granted an immediate release by Wests Tigers, will join Parramatta Eels
MAY 16, 20177:59PM
Tigers James Tedesco and Mitchell Moses during the round 8 NRL game between the Wests Tigers and the Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium, Homebush. Picture: Gregg Porteous
Christian Nicolussi
The Daily Telegraph
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MITCHELL Moses arrived at Parramatta’s training ground just after 4pm on Tuesday, was assessed by the club physio, received some blue-and-gold training gear, then spent an hour with coach Brad Arthur.
Forty minutes after Wests Tigers officially confirmed Moses had finally been released, the playmaker was already learning about life as an Eel.
“We did a bit of video, went through some of our plays and calls, he’ll go through it again with the team, but we wanted a head start,’’ Arthur told The Daily Telegraph.
“He bounced in, he was excited, and I think he’ll play with plenty of energy on Saturday.’’
Moses was named in the No.21 jersey for Parramatta but will definitely start at halfback against the Raiders.
Tigers fans will be gutted their playmaker will not line up against Brisbane a night earlier, especially with the early return of skipper Aaron Woods from injury a welcome morale boost.
The Tigers made the decision to grant Moses his release over the weekend after his defensive shocker against South Sydney. They quickly realised keeping Moses around would do them more harm than good.
Some at Concord maintained Moses’ ego was still bruised after it became clear the club’s priority was to sign James Tedesco and Woods. That pair will also depart at season’s end.
Moses was even instructed to stay away from training on Monday, especially with the club all but convinced the Warriors would allow Tui Lolohea to join them immediately.
The Tigers realised they would be better off letting Moses go. Image: Gregg Porteous
While the Tigers await Lolohea’s arrival, they will persevere with Jack Littlejohn in the halves. The club are also monitoring the Cody Walker situation at Souths after it emerged last night he was unhappy.
Arthur and Parramatta were the big winners with Moses capable of becoming one of the most exciting playmakers in the game. He will cost the Eels around $250,000 for the remainder of the season.
There is no clause that will require him to sit out the round 20 clash against the Tigers.
Arthur said Moses would ‘’fit straight into our systems and structures’’, and complement Corey Norman’s own game once he returned from a knee injury in the four to six weeks.
While Moses’ departure was almost expected, so was the official announcement of Russell Packer on a four-year deal.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/wests-tigers/mitchell-moses-granted-an-immediate-release-by-wests-tigers-will-join-parramatta-eels/news-story/dcc2cbaaa2dbc95de6d89f14e64a2b54
I wonder how long before Mitch starts throwing in the boot. Parras so much more professional, tougher training etc. those leeches at the DT will be sniffing around for this in 3 or 4 weeks time.
