The Parramatta Eels have been urged to “dig their heels in” amid speculation that star halfback Mitchell Moses could agitate for an early release from his contract.
Moses is contracted until the end of 2026 and then has an option in his favour for 2027 and 2028.
However there’s been suggestions this week that the 29-year-old will knock back those options — or even attempt to exit the club even earlier.
Speaking on NRL 360 on Tuesday night, veteran journalist Paul Crawley reference Ben Hunt’s agitation at the Dragons last season but declared the Moses situation worse.
“We saw last year the blow up when the story emerged that Ben Hunt was considering his options,” he said.
“All hell broke loose and it forced the NRL to do an investigation and while we never found out what the repercussions were there… but this is next level. This is absolutely next level.
“You’ve got all these long-suffering Parramatta fans and you’ve got the current NSW halfback, the player that the club has put great effort into educating and getting him to this level at the time of his career where he’s got to own something.
“If he’s contracted and somehow he turns up at the Roosters, they’ll be rioting in the streets.
“Is the talk that about this happening in 2027 or is the talk perhaps it may happen sooner and that he may agitate to get out? Because I’m telling you now if that was to happen there would be a massive uproar.”
Cralwey went on to use the Dragons’ handling of the Hunt situation as an example of what the Eels should do.
“Shane Flanagan showed you how to do it last year with Ben Hunt. He walked into the Dragons and said ‘no, he’s not going’.”
Gorden Tallis agreed and urged the Eels to “dig their heels in” over the rumoured Moses situation.
“They can’t keep on getting walked over,” he added.
Meanwhile, NRL 360 host Braith Anasta recalled how “it was a saga” just trying to lock in Moses on this current deal and has concerns over how the speculation could impact the club and incoming coach Jason Ryles.
“The fears are that this drags on and impacts the club. Rylesy’s got to get in there and grab him as soon as possible,” he said.
Tallis, however, believes Moses has “too much pride in his game” to be causing unrest.
But Anasta, who is also a player agent, alluded to the fact that it could be the star No.7’s manager that’s sparked the speculation.
“It’s not him that makes the noise. That’s the problem, it might not be him making the noise. It could be noise in the background,” he said.
“It happens, we saw it with Brian To’o.
“This is the problem in our game… I’ll put my manager’s hat on. This is what pi**es me off, I do have an accreditation, I only have a few players but I do it for a certain reason.
“There’s agents out there — I know they don’t like me talking about it but tough luck — they stir the pot behind the scenes and they cause drama to get agitation to get their players more money or other clubs.
“This is a fear for Parramatta, they can’t do this anymore. You can’t have people in that position putting clubs under pressure and ruining them because that’s what’s going to happen here.”
News Corp journalist Dean Ritchie believes irrespective of where the noise is coming from, Ryles — a rookie head coach — “doesn’t need a disgruntled halfback story in the paper every day.”
That’s why Crawley believes the club needs to address the rumours.
“The board and the management of the club have to stand up and do what Flanagan did, put out a statement, do what the Panthers did last week with To’o — they fixed it within a day,” he said.