After 80 minutes of Origin I last Wednesday, most had Mitchell Moses taking the NSW No.7 jersey off Nicho Hynes. After 40 minutes on Monday, the tailor had the tape out and the Eels star weighed and measured for a new sky-blue kit.
But another 40 minutes later, when Canterbury had worn a critical sin-binning and at one point a 1-9 penalty count , yet still ran Parramatta and Moses down? Maybe a hint of doubt for Michael Maguire? Not enough to shift Moses from pole position given Hynes performed reasonably, without shooting the lights out, against the Dolphins on Thursday, before missing a conversion that would have sent the match into extra time after the hooter. The Origin audition is something of a fallacy anyway and Hynes’s miserable last outing for Cronulla before game one - a couple of punts out on the full, a HIA, a calf complaint and not much else - is proof enough. He was still the Blues chief playmaker 24 hours later, even with the knowledge he couldn’t train to start the campaign because he wasMichael Maguire’s best option.
Moses has been back from a broken foot for 160 minutes. Long enough to challenge that. He’s got another 80 against the Roosters on Saturday to lock in a fourth NSW Origin appearance.
Playing with a back fracture for 70 minutes on debut and starring in a dead-rubber win last year are the highlights so far. Mitchell Moses is a last-start winner in NSW Origin colours. Credit: Getty In the eyes of most, Moses is already on the Blues bus.
But .
