Moses comes full circle to link with Eels

Wests Tigers five-eighth Mitchell Moses has been released to join NRL rivals Parramatta and is set to line up against Canberra on Saturday.

Mitchell Moses of the Tigers

Wests Tigers NRL five-eighth Mitchell Moses has been released to join Parramatta. (AAP)

Six years after being punted from the Parramatta system, Mitchell Moses will line up in the blue and gold once again this weekend.

An ugly and drawn out saga over the playmaker's NRL future came to a close on Tuesday when the Wests Tigers agreed to immediately release the 22-year-old to the Eels.

Not only is it a boon for coach Brad Arthur and his rebuild, it's timely given halfback Corey Norman is set to miss the next four to six weeks with a medial ligament strain in his knee.

After weeks of agitating for an early release, having already signed with the Eels for 2018, he was finally granted his request.

The Tigers and Moses fell out after coach Ivan Cleary and CEO Justin Pascoe withdrew a contract offer and told him the club was concentrating on re-signing Luke Brooks, Aaron Woods and James Tedesco.

It was the death knell of Moses' relationship with the joint venture and ultimately back-fired as Woods signed with Canterbury and Tedesco joined the Roosters.

And now Moses' career has come full circle - he starred for the Eels in the under-16 Harold Matthews Cup but the club neglected to offer him a long-term deal, telling him he wasn't big enough, before he accepted an offer from the Tigers.

"I wanted to stay there (at the Eels) but it's their decision and I respect it," Moses told Fairfax Media in 2014.

Arthur praised Moses as a key signing who gives the side much-needed stability in the halves after being forced to turn to a long line of fill-ins since Kieran Foran's departure last year.

"We haven't had a steady halves partnership for a long time, whether it be through injury or blokes coming and going," Arthur said.

"We've had centres in the halves with (Norman), we've had back-rowers there."

He predicted Moses would hit the ground running.

"I just had a good conversation with Mitchell then about how we like to attack and our plan moving forward," Arthur said.

"He's very intelligent and I think he's going to be a real asset for us."

Moses has been named on an extended Eels bench to take on Canberra on Saturday at ANZ Stadium but Arthur said he would "definitely" start.

Tigers fans will also be circling Sunday July 23 in their calendar when Moses is scheduled to take on his former club for the first time.

It's not known how the Tigers will plug the hole left by Moses' departure after the Warriors on Monday denied Tui Lolohea an immediate release to join the joint venture.


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Source: AAP



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