The Parramatta captain’s comeback game could not have gone any better.

Queensland coach Billy Slater has hailed the influence of Mitchell Moses in his NRL return for Parramatta, with Roosters great Bryan Fletcher among those to suggest he should be picked ahead of Jarome Luai in this year’s State of Origin series. Moses and Luai are the incumbent Blues halves and played a key role in helping NSW win last year’s series against the Maroons.

Champion Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary missed the entire 2024 series with a hamstring injury, but Blues coach Laurie Daley has made it clear that if the four-time premiership winning No.7 is fit, then he’s all but guaranteed to play. That would appear to leave Moses and Luai fighting for the No.6 jersey for the Blues, and the Eels captain landed a knockout blow over his Tigers rival in a masterclass display on Easter Monday.

Moses’ kicking game and organisational skills were clear for all to see and helped transform Parramatta’s game, and the form of many teammates who’d been struggling this season. Moses had three try assists in the 38-22 victory that saw the Eels pile on seven tries against a Tigers side whose defence had been markedly improved in 2025.

The Eels No.7 also showed his impressive game awareness with a superb 40/20 kick that helped get Parramatta on the front foot during a crucial stage of the game. And Maroons coach Slater said the difference between the Eels with Moses on Monday, compared to the side that’s been languishing on the bottom of the ladder without him, was enormous.

“It makes a huge difference when you get a class player like Mitch Moses back in the team,” the NRL legend said on Nine’s Billy Slater Podcast. “And not just what he brings to the team in terms of his kicking game and his skills but just his direction and calmness.

“That’s what they bring the good players and the experienced players and he’s played at the top level and been around a long time, Mitch Moses. And it just shows the difference these players bring. I think it’s onwards and upwards for the Eels now, they’ve just got this feeling now and hopefully they can go on with it. I know (coach) Jason Ryles has been working really hard in the pre-season to instil some new habits to this footy team and we’re just starting to see the green shoots coming through.”

Mitchell Moses return transforms struggling Eels

Veteran league reporter David Riccio said the most impressive thing about Moses’ return was the effect it had on improving the performances of all his teammates – many of whom had been struggling before Monday’s game. “The influence of Mitch Moses, it really is elite-level stuff,” Riccio told SEN radio on Wednesday.

“It just shows that he’s now got that serious influence of a champion player. He dramatically changed everything about Parramatta and I’m talking about the performances of his teammates. They went to another level around him and he was sensational.”

Parramatta winger Josh Addo-Carr echoed those sentiments after talking about the influence of Moses after the game. “He’s next level, I’ve never seen anything like that,” Addo-Carr told SEN. “Someone who comes into the team and took control of the team all week and it showed on the field…

“(He brings) experience and leading the boys around. The fella who runs the ship is so important, especially in our attack. I feel like that’s what we missed especially at the start of the season.” Moses had a similar effect for the Blues in last year’s Origin series triumph and seems to have a greater influence on his sides than Luai, with Roosters great Fletcher seeing enough evidence to pick the Eels skipper over the Tigers’ co-captain to partner Cleary for the Blues this year.

Mitch Moses tipped to win Blues battle against Jarome Luai

“Yeah it’s funny isn’t it, you just put one player in and everyone just gains confidence,” Fletcher said about Moses’ return on SEN radio. “It’s a fair player, your NSW and Kangaroos halfback, but he was brilliant… everyone just fed off him, Dylan Brown was very good, Iongi at the back.

“I thought Junior Paulo, that was his best game all year… and seven tries they scored. They couldn’t get it their own way two weeks ago so Mitch Moses, very very good.” When asked whether Moses had shown enough in one game to keep his State of Origin spot ahead of Luai, Fletcher had no doubt.

“You’d think so and we asked him last week ‘do you think you can play six’ and he said ‘yeah I’d love to play six’. So with Nathan (Cleary) and if everyone stays fit, you’d expect that’s going to be the halves combination.”