Brad Arthur throws down a State of Origin challenge to Parramatta halves Corey Norman and Mitchell Moses
Paul Crawley, NRL, The Daily Telegraph
January 26, 2018 4:35pm
BRAD Arthur has thrown down the challenge to his Parramatta halves Corey Norman and Mitchell Moses to prove they are “worthy of an Origin opportunity” this year.
Arthur is adamant both playmakers are now ready to take that next giant step in their blossoming careers and he said the job ahead for Norman and Moses was to “take control and own” the Eels’ fortunes in 2018.
There will be a changing of the guard in the Queensland halves this year following the representative retirement of Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk, while another failed series for NSW has only put more pressure on Mitchell Pearce to retain his spot.
Asked if he believed his two halves were ready for Origin, Arthur said: “Yep. Definitely.
“To me that is evident in their training and their attitude.
“Corey needs to put his hand up to show that he is worthy of an Origin opportunity, and the same with Mitch.
Norman and Moses struck up an instant combination last season.
“The opportunities are there and they have a good team around them so there are no excuses.”
Queensland is blessed with a strong list of halves contenders in the absence of Thurston and Cronk with the likes of Michael Morgan, Cameron Munster, Anthony Milford, Ben Hunt, Daly Cherry-Evans and even young Ash Taylor all challenging Norman for the opportunity.
For NSW, James Maloney would have to be a near certainty if he stays fit, and his combination with young Nathan Cleary at Penrith this season could ultimately determine which direction new coach Brad Fittler takes.
If Maloney and Cleary can strike up an immediate partnership at club level for the Panthers it would have to favour their Origin hopes.
Other options for the Blues would include Matt Moylan who’ll be playing five-eighth at Cronulla, along with the Sydney Roosters’ Luke Keary who was outstanding in 2017 and South Sydney’s Adam Reynolds.
Fittler has always supported Pearce and no doubt his move to Newcastle will give Pearce plenty of motivation to come out firing for the start of the season.
But Moses also made a big impression on Fittler during their time together with Lebanon at the World Cup.
As soon as Fittler was announced as Laurie Daley’s successor he immediately pushed Moses’s name forward as a possible debutant in 2018.
“He was awesome … he came up with some really big moments so he was outstanding,” Fittler said at the time.
“And what it does is it puts pressure on the current halves and the halves that are in contention.
“If he can have that sort of attitude under that pressure, and the fact is that he was playing in a team that was going backwards most of the time and we were sort of just hanging on, and he came up with big moments.
“He showed so much more than I thought he had, and on and off the field as well.”
Norman turns 27 next week and Moses is 23.
Can Moses and Norman take the next step?
Arthur believes both now have the NRL experience behind them to assert their authority.
“They need to take control and own this team,” Arthur said.
“That is what they need to do.”
At his best Norman has proven he can dominate like the very best playmakers but his week-to-week consistency will be the key.
Moses has always carried plenty of expectation but in the back-end of last season after joining Parramatta he took his game to another level.
Arthur has no doubt a full pre-season working alongside Norman will benefit both after the Eels’ top four finish in 2017.
“Mitchy has had six months with us already but now he gets a pre-season so it just gives us a bit more stability in our ranks,” Arthur said.
“The more time they get playing together and training together hopefully the better we will become.
“I didn’t know him before he came to our club but Mitch has a real sense and belief that he wants to run a team.
“He wants to control a team.
“That is what we need.”
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