Last Friday saw the Penrith Panthers and Parramatta Eels face off in one of if not the biggest “Battle of the West” match-ups in the history of Rugby League as it was the first time since both these sides have been competition heavyweights when a full crowd was allowed into BlueBet Stadium to witness the match, as the past two meetings at the venue have been impacted due to COVID.

The game well and truly lived up to the hype as defending premiers Penrith looked to keep their undefeated streak alive.

Parramatta were the plucky underdogs on this occasion but had the last laugh as they managed to take the lead late in the game and run away with it, handing the Panthers their first loss of the season,

For large parts of the game, Penrith was in control but the Eels managed to withstand the onslaught for just long enough and then took the upper hand.

There were many courageous performances from players on both sides but many are praising Eels halfback Mitchell Moses for his outing.

A couple of former players, in particular, were most impressed with Moses and discussed the New South Wales State of Origin representative after Fox League’s coverage of the game.

 
“I think he is in career-best form Mitch Moses, and to be fair although he didn’t have a run, he didn’t have to,” said premiership winner Corey Parker.

“He has got Dylan Brown outside of him, he has got Gutherson, he has got wonderful edge forwards he has got terrific middle forwards.

“I thought Reed Mahoney’s service was terrific but his (Moses’) service and his kicking game certainly laid a platform for what they need to do.”

Benji Marshall also has nothing but praise for Moses.

“What you want from your seven, especially in the big games, is to execute your game plan,” said Marshall.

“And deliver that, and what he does is he puts the team in positions to play their best footy and tonight along with his kicking game, and also what he was doing with Dylan Brown, putting him a bit wider, putting Gutho onto the ball, that’s what it is about for Mitch.”

The 27-year-old will be looking to put in another huge performance in Parramatta’s clash with the Roosters next week at Magic Round.