As Parramatta Eels captain Mitchell Moses navigates the toughest leadership test of his professional rugby league career, a potential mid-season addition of star forward Jaydn Su’A sits firmly on the back burner, with an unprecedented injury crisis taking every ounce of his focus.
Speaking at an event launching Greyhound National Adoption Day alongside Sydney Roosters captain James Tedesco in central Sydney, Moses opened up about the unprecedented challenges his side has faced through the opening six rounds of the NRL season. The Eels are coming off a demoralizing 52-point defeat to the Gold Coast Titans, a result that saw the under-strength side booed off the field by frustrated fans at full-time. But Moses made clear the club has a valid explanation for its poor form: an injury toll that has gutted the playing roster unlike anything he has experienced in his career.
Three key first-team players – J’maine Hopgood, Bailey Simonsson and Matt Doorey – have already been ruled out for the entire 2024 season. For this weekend’s clash against the Canterbury Bulldogs, the list of unavailable talent grows even longer, with rising stars Jonah Pezet and Isaiah Iongi among the multitude of sidelined players. This has forced the Eels to field a roster heavy with inexperienced rookies, who are still learning the ropes of top-flight NRL football.
That youth-driven lineup has forced a shift in Moses’ approach to on-field leadership. Known for wearing his heart on his sleeve and not holding back when challenging teammates, the captain said he has had to rein in his outward frustration to avoid undermining the young players getting their first opportunities at the top level. “That’s the core challenge I’m facing right now as skipper – I’ve never encountered anything like this, even before I took the captaincy,” Moses explained. “I’ve never been part of a team that’s been hit this hard by injuries. It’s already unprecedented, but add the captaincy on top, and you have to figure out how to lead the right way. With all these young kids coming in, you don’t want to lose your temper and let that negativity filter through the group. I’m taking lessons from how I’ve led in the past and working to get better at this.”
The brutal 52-point defeat exposed major flaws in Parramatta’s defensive structure, with the side conceding a massive 226 points across the first six rounds of the season. A tough post-match video review only confirmed how far below the club’s standard the performance was. “To be honest, it was really tough to sit through that review,” Moses admitted. “It didn’t feel like us, as a team or as a club. This isn’t one person’s fault – it’s on all of us, and we all have to step up to fix this. This week’s match against the Bulldogs isn’t going to get any easier, either. There were moments in the Titans game where we could have clawed our way back into contention, and we failed to take those chances. We have to do better.”
A mainstay of the New South Wales Blues Origin squad for several years, Moses has been a consistent standout for the state side. But right now, he said, even thinking about Origin selection is impossible – every bit of his energy is focused on righting the ship at Parramatta. “My full attention is on this club right now, it’s the only thing I can focus on,” he said. “I’ve never been through anything like this injury crisis in my career, and as captain, I’m actually excited for the challenge of pulling us out of this slump. We’re not hiding from how bad the last performance was. We weren’t happy with it, we don’t want to see that again, and we’re going to step straight into the pressure to fix it.”
With the injury crisis mounting, speculation has grown that the Eels will look to the mid-season transfer market to bolster their thin roster. The most high-profile name linked with a move to the club is St George Illawarra Dragons forward Jaydn Su’A, who has already confirmed he will leave the Red V at the end of his contract, with a 2027 move to Parramatta already widely reported. Moses made clear he would jump at the chance to add a player of Su’A’s quality to the Eels’ right edge immediately, but stressed that any transfer deal is out of his hands as he focuses on leading the injury-hit side. “There’s no point hiding how bad our injury situation is right now,” Moses said. “If the club’s recruitment team decides bringing in someone like Su’A is the best move for us, I fully support whatever they think is the right fit for this team. When you talk about Su’A, any club would jump at the chance to add a player of his calibre. I’d love to have him here, but this decision isn’t up to me.”