Parramatta’s million-dollar man Mitchell Moses should have been relishing in his team’s 28-22 win over the Wests Tigers on Monday afternoon at Accor Stadium.
Instead, the Eels halfback, who had four try assists and all but single-handedly delivered his team victory with his kicking game, was full of praise for young Tigers winger Junior Tupou.
“We were just making some errors, making it hard on ourselves, and we probably went away from playing footy. It probably hurt us a bit, but I thought their winger was outstanding,” Moses said.
“He put us under the pump, that Junior Tupou. For a young kid I thought, how he was carrying the ball, he was unbelievable for them, and he tore us to shreds really, and he hurt us. So, it’s a credit to him.”
Tupou, who made his debut with the Tigers last year, scored a try late in the second half to bring his team within two points of the Eels with eight minutes left on the clock.
With four line breaks, 221 run metres and eight tackle breaks, Tupou was a breath of fresh air for an embattled Tigers side who were desperate for a win.
Wests Tigers young gun Junior Tupou impressed Parramatta’s Mitchell Moses.Credit: Getty/NRL Imagery
But even Tupou couldn’t save the Tigers, and despite his near-perfect game, the 20-year-old made an error in the first half that summed up the Tigers’ entire season, and gave the Eels an easy try ahead of half-time.
The Tigers get a much-needed bye this week, their first points of the season. Coach Tim Sheens will need to rebuild his team ahead of their round eight game against Manly, after playmaker Adam Doueihi went down with a suspected ACL rupture and Brent Naden with a suspected broken collarbone.
Parramatta, who themselves notched just their second win of the season, play the Bulldogs this week, when former hooker Reed Mahoney will face his former team for the first time.
“It’s a big game, they’ve got some quality players coming back as well. It’s a big game, big rivalry between us, so they’ll be fired up, they’re coming off a big loss as well,” Moses said.
“Reedy is still close with a lot of the boys here, he’s been playing outstanding footy … so we’ll have to do a job on him.”
The Bulldogs and the Eels have played 49 times since the NRL era began in 1998, with Parramatta just having the upper hand, claiming 25 wins.
But an injury-riddled Canterbury, who are now also without star winger Josh Addo-Carr, will try to match Moses in his kicking game with the lethal boot of Matt Burton.
“He’s got a big boot … [but] I don’t really look into it as a kicking duel, it’s not rugby union or anything,” joked Moses.
“I just try to work on my footy … However we can pick apart the Bulldogs in that aspect, I will try to do that.”
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