Bring Origin lessons to Eels, Moses urged
Brad Arthur was a proud coach watching Mitch Moses make his NSW Origin debut and hopes his halfback learned some useful lessons as Parramatta make their NRL premiership push.
The Eels star had a mixed performance for the Blues in their 20-18 loss to Queensland on the Gold Coast on Wednesday night after being rushed into the series-winning side to replace injured Nathan Cleary.
In his first taste of Origin Moses took plenty of heat from aggressive defence but Arthur was impressed with how he handled it.
"He defended really well, he kicked strongly, he had limited attacking opportunities but hopefully he got some confidence out of that," Arthur said ahead of Parramatta's clash with Gold Coast on Friday night.
"He's got a game under his belt now at a higher level and hopefully he brings that back to club football whether it's this week or next week."
Arthur said both Moses and Blues prop Junior Paulo were keen to back up against the Titans but that decision might not be confirmed until game day.
Paulo is available for selection after escaping a charge from the NRL's Match Review Committee after he was put on report for a melee at the end of the Origin III loss.
Meanwhile, Arthur said the return of hooker Reed Mahoney side would be another huge boost as the Eels look to nail down a top four spot at the back end of the season.
Mahoney was close to making his Origin debut for Queensland this year but has been sidelined with a shoulder injury for the past few weeks.
"He was close last game, and he really wanted to play but we thought he just hadn't done enough," Arthur said.
"He's made a big difference to us at training.
"He takes pressure off the halves (Dylan Brown, Moses) and Gutho (Clint Gutherson), the four players in that spine have got a good combination.
"It's another threat out of dummy half which keeps the defence guessing more and opens up more opportunities for Mitch and Dylan."
