How can Ivan Cleary let Mitchell Moses go now?
As he addressed the team for potentially the last time before Saturday night's clash against the Cowboys, Moses looked his teammates in the eye and said: "no excuses".
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Tigers stun the Cowboys
After a tumultuous week off the field, the Wests Tigers produced a stunning performance on it to down the Cowboys 26-16 in Townsville.
Eighty minutes of football later, which saw Johnathan Thurston leave the field in the dying minutes with a serious leg injury, the Wests Tigers were celebrating a victory on a memorable night in the club's history.
"I was really fired-up before the game and wanted to prove people wrong," Moses told Fox Sports after the match. "I'm going to try and put in every performance I have for the Tigers. I showed tonight I'm not giving up."
If ever a team had a right to use excuses, it was the Tigers in Townsville on Saturday night.
They had a new coach in Cleary taking the reins on Monday.
Their five-eighth signed a contract with Parramatta for next year and retaliated to having his Tigers contract withdrawn by asking for directions to the exit doors.
Their skipper Aaron Woods and superstar fullback James Tedesco refused to commit to the club amid a circus of speculation surrounding their futures. But, 135 seconds into the Cleary regime, they moved to put a tumultuous month behind them and break a four-match losing streak with a fortuitous try to prop Ava Seumanufagai to mark a new era.
From his first meeting with the players to his first press conference in charge of the Tigers, Cleary has repeatedly alluded to this 'bus'. You're either on it or off it, he said.
A few days ago, Moses pressed the 'stop' button well before his desired destination. He wanted out. Or at least his manager wanted him waiting at the bus stop for Brad Arthur to arrive. But Cleary kept driving. Not stopping despite oncoming traffic ordering him to slow down.
Despite having his request for a release denied by the Tigers, Moses didn't chuck his toys out of the cot. In fact, throughout the team's preparation in Townsville, he committed to the cause.
He didn't go into his shell. He interacted with Cleary throughout training. And while he still might be at Parramatta this week, he made it clear he had no intention of leaving Tigertown being accused of tanking.
Perhaps Moses was the most fired-up of the lot. High fiving and fist pumping his way around the ground shouting words that should never be printed in a newspaper.
"No excuses," he reiterated to his teammates before kick-off.
Then the ambush began.
Not even Cleary expected the events of the next 80 minutes to transpire as they did. This was meant to be the toughest baptism of fire in the history of new coaches. A road trip to Townsville to take on Thurston and company.
But they played like a team on notice. Like a team that knew if they dished out what they have been in recent weeks they'd soon be on the lookout for a new club.
For a team that has long faded in and out of games, the victory against the Cowboys was the closest thing to a disciplined performance they've produced in a long time.
When they conceded a try, they didn't concede three in quick succession. When they scored a try, they didn't go looking for the big play.
And when they made an error, of which there were many, they didn't drop their heads. They scrambled like men in black and gold haven't scrambled in a long time.
Just like they did against Melbourne a fortnight ago in the first game of the post-Jason Taylor era, the Tigers burst out of the blocks to notch an early 14-0 lead.
This time they didn't run out of steam. This time they had the heart to fight until the final whistle – ensuring Chris Lawrence's 200th game would be one to savour.
And as one Tigers player yelled with relief after the game: "Thank god". So the question has to be asked again. How can Cleary let Moses go now?
Not this year. And thanks to a little thing called the 10-day cooling-off period, perhaps not next year.
"It was a really gusty effort and I'm glad we got the win" - @mitchmoses6#NRLCowboysTigers #NRL pic.twitter.com/G1wdWrQr0Z
— NRL (@NRL) April 8, 2017
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