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**Young gun Mitchell Moses can still lead Wests Tigers from the wilderness**
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_MITCHELL Moses once spent 10 weeks with his leg in a cast.
Plastered from ankle, to above the knee.
And worse than the itching, he remembers, was the timing.
Doctors setting said plaster right as this wiry schoolboy, a kid already punted by Parramatta, was now fighting to secure a new future with Wests Tigers U/20s.
Which is why, initially, Moses continued playing on that leg broken 12 months earlier.
Asking, first, for specialists to remove the titanium screws, thinking maybe they were the problem.
And when that didn’t work, seeking scans from a second, then third GP.
Eventually learning even the best way to limp himself through the back end of games as, all about him, medicos insisted things were good.
“But I knew things, they weren’t good,’’ Moses recalls, now two years on.\
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“I was supposed to be pushing for a place in the NRL squad but, because of the leg, was playing nowhere near my potential.
“I didn’t want to stop but, eventually, I fronted our coach Todd Payten and said there was no way I’d see out the year.
“I wanted to keep going, but for my future … yeah, I chose the cast.”
So why are we telling you all this?
Well, it’s so you understand this Moses fella, he can still lead Wests Tigers from the wilderness.
For isn’t this the $64 question?
One swirling now with the Tigers struggling, Moses misfiring and Blake Austin, the man punted to pay for the schoolboy sensation, continuing his rise as NRL Buy of the Year.
And chatting now with League Central, you sense the kid himself gets all this.
The expectation. The let down.
And the work still required to keep him from a scrapheap piled high with schoolboy wannabes.
For while he may be part of the Now Generation, still this rookie No. 6 knows patience.
Persistence.
Assured of surviving this most torturous of debut seasons because, in his words, “I’ve been through so much worse before”.
And, sure, it isn’t what anyone expected.
Not for Moses. Or Luke Brooks.
A pair of Next Big Things who, together, are right now supposed to be igniting the NRL just like they have ever other competition since first partnered at age 11.
Holy Cross Ryde. Balmain Juniors. Australian Schoolboys.
Hell, this is a duo who even took out the State relay titles with Brooks running anchor and Moses, the bend.
“But this year,” the Tigers rookie concedes, “it’s been a lot tougher than I expected.\
\
“People have been waiting five years for Brooksy and I to play NRL but then we get here and, yeah, we’re under the pump.
“People questioning our choices. Questioning our defence. Even asking if the Tigers should just let us play our natural games.
“At times I’ve been frustrated. Others, had no confidence.
“I just wasn’t getting my hands on the ball — certainly not like in juniors — and initially my game suffered.”\
\
Which is new ground for both of you, right?
“We’ve always been used to success, yeah,’’ Moses continues.
“But as a young playmaker, you have to expect what’s happening now.
“I know it’s going to be hard. That I’m going to be targeted, sledged and taunted.
“I’m going to be hit late and have guys running at me all afternoon in defence.
“But that’s my job. And I’ll get there.
“You just need patience. Consistency and patience.”\
\
Of course, you also need more than a teaspoon of talent.
Something both Moses and Brooks have possessed since well before ever being partnered together.
“First time Luke and I met, we were selected in a NSW primary school team,’’ Moses recalls.
“I’ll never forget it either.
“Luke is given this pass, right down around his ankles. Yet rather than bend for it, he just puts his foot to it — chips up and over the defence.
“Then he regathers, scores ... you’ve never seen anything like it.”
It is a similar tale with Moses, himself.
The gun No. 6 who long before playing Australian Schoolboys was receiving the type of exposure you get as the promising young nephew of Kangaroo great Benny Elias.
“Oh, I’ve been getting the ‘Benny’s nephew’ thing for years,” Moses grins.”
“And I love that.
“Because getting to where I am now, my uncle has played a huge role. And to even be mentioned in the same sentence as him is a huge honour.”
But forever?
“No, I don’t want to be ‘Benny’s nephew’ forever,’’ he laughs.
“I love him to death but eventually I want to create my own ... ah, how would you say it? I want to be me.”
And to get there, he mentions that word again ...
“Patience,’’ he says.
“And consistency.
“You see so many young playmakers come and go because their game is inconsistent. I want to be different.”\
\
And bigger too?
At 80kg, Moses is arguably the lightest player in the NRL. Often conceding 30 kegs to the forwards who, under the orders of opposing coaches, are run at him ad nauseam.
“I’m not worried about my size,’’ Moses fires when the question is put, exactly as you’d expect a kid up against it his entire life.
“The moment I start worrying about weight, about conceding to other players, that’s when things go wrong.
“Plus as a young halfback, I’m targeted regardless of what I weigh.
“I’m averaging about 25 tackles a game. One week, it was 32.
“And while I shouldn’t be making that many, if they want to keep doing it I’ll be ready.”
For that plaster cast, eventually it comes off.
“Luke and I, we know not much may come from this year,’’ Moses concludes.
“But in the long run, we’re building a team that is going to be at the top end of the table every season.
“Fighting for titles.
“We just have to hang in now. Be patient.”_
http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/young-gun-mitchell-moses-can-still-lead-wests-tigers-from-the-wilderness/story-fndujljl-1227404519177
\
\
_MITCHELL Moses once spent 10 weeks with his leg in a cast.
Plastered from ankle, to above the knee.
And worse than the itching, he remembers, was the timing.
Doctors setting said plaster right as this wiry schoolboy, a kid already punted by Parramatta, was now fighting to secure a new future with Wests Tigers U/20s.
Which is why, initially, Moses continued playing on that leg broken 12 months earlier.
Asking, first, for specialists to remove the titanium screws, thinking maybe they were the problem.
And when that didn’t work, seeking scans from a second, then third GP.
Eventually learning even the best way to limp himself through the back end of games as, all about him, medicos insisted things were good.
“But I knew things, they weren’t good,’’ Moses recalls, now two years on.\
\
“I was supposed to be pushing for a place in the NRL squad but, because of the leg, was playing nowhere near my potential.
“I didn’t want to stop but, eventually, I fronted our coach Todd Payten and said there was no way I’d see out the year.
“I wanted to keep going, but for my future … yeah, I chose the cast.”
So why are we telling you all this?
Well, it’s so you understand this Moses fella, he can still lead Wests Tigers from the wilderness.
For isn’t this the $64 question?
One swirling now with the Tigers struggling, Moses misfiring and Blake Austin, the man punted to pay for the schoolboy sensation, continuing his rise as NRL Buy of the Year.
And chatting now with League Central, you sense the kid himself gets all this.
The expectation. The let down.
And the work still required to keep him from a scrapheap piled high with schoolboy wannabes.
For while he may be part of the Now Generation, still this rookie No. 6 knows patience.
Persistence.
Assured of surviving this most torturous of debut seasons because, in his words, “I’ve been through so much worse before”.
And, sure, it isn’t what anyone expected.
Not for Moses. Or Luke Brooks.
A pair of Next Big Things who, together, are right now supposed to be igniting the NRL just like they have ever other competition since first partnered at age 11.
Holy Cross Ryde. Balmain Juniors. Australian Schoolboys.
Hell, this is a duo who even took out the State relay titles with Brooks running anchor and Moses, the bend.
“But this year,” the Tigers rookie concedes, “it’s been a lot tougher than I expected.\
\
“People have been waiting five years for Brooksy and I to play NRL but then we get here and, yeah, we’re under the pump.
“People questioning our choices. Questioning our defence. Even asking if the Tigers should just let us play our natural games.
“At times I’ve been frustrated. Others, had no confidence.
“I just wasn’t getting my hands on the ball — certainly not like in juniors — and initially my game suffered.”\
\
Which is new ground for both of you, right?
“We’ve always been used to success, yeah,’’ Moses continues.
“But as a young playmaker, you have to expect what’s happening now.
“I know it’s going to be hard. That I’m going to be targeted, sledged and taunted.
“I’m going to be hit late and have guys running at me all afternoon in defence.
“But that’s my job. And I’ll get there.
“You just need patience. Consistency and patience.”\
\
Of course, you also need more than a teaspoon of talent.
Something both Moses and Brooks have possessed since well before ever being partnered together.
“First time Luke and I met, we were selected in a NSW primary school team,’’ Moses recalls.
“I’ll never forget it either.
“Luke is given this pass, right down around his ankles. Yet rather than bend for it, he just puts his foot to it — chips up and over the defence.
“Then he regathers, scores ... you’ve never seen anything like it.”
It is a similar tale with Moses, himself.
The gun No. 6 who long before playing Australian Schoolboys was receiving the type of exposure you get as the promising young nephew of Kangaroo great Benny Elias.
“Oh, I’ve been getting the ‘Benny’s nephew’ thing for years,” Moses grins.”
“And I love that.
“Because getting to where I am now, my uncle has played a huge role. And to even be mentioned in the same sentence as him is a huge honour.”
But forever?
“No, I don’t want to be ‘Benny’s nephew’ forever,’’ he laughs.
“I love him to death but eventually I want to create my own ... ah, how would you say it? I want to be me.”
And to get there, he mentions that word again ...
“Patience,’’ he says.
“And consistency.
“You see so many young playmakers come and go because their game is inconsistent. I want to be different.”\
\
And bigger too?
At 80kg, Moses is arguably the lightest player in the NRL. Often conceding 30 kegs to the forwards who, under the orders of opposing coaches, are run at him ad nauseam.
“I’m not worried about my size,’’ Moses fires when the question is put, exactly as you’d expect a kid up against it his entire life.
“The moment I start worrying about weight, about conceding to other players, that’s when things go wrong.
“Plus as a young halfback, I’m targeted regardless of what I weigh.
“I’m averaging about 25 tackles a game. One week, it was 32.
“And while I shouldn’t be making that many, if they want to keep doing it I’ll be ready.”
For that plaster cast, eventually it comes off.
“Luke and I, we know not much may come from this year,’’ Moses concludes.
“But in the long run, we’re building a team that is going to be at the top end of the table every season.
“Fighting for titles.
“We just have to hang in now. Be patient.”_
http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/young-gun-mitchell-moses-can-still-lead-wests-tigers-from-the-wilderness/story-fndujljl-1227404519177
