Moses turns down $5.2m Tigers lure to play on with Eels

The Mitchell Moses contract saga is coming to an end—after a back and forth between west Sydney clubs Wests and Parramatta, it looks like the grand finalist halfback will be sticking in gold-and-blue well into the 2020s.

It’s understood Moses, 28, will ink a formal new extension late this week or early next (first reported by the Herald) that should see him stay with Parramatta until the end of his playing career. He did originally have a one-year 2024 add-on in his old contract, but that will be overwritten in the $1.25 million upgrade he’s ready to sign.

The Eels have scored a victory over Moses’ old club Wests Tigers in the process. The Tigers were willing to pay the halfback as much as $1.3 million a season to return to the club he left in 2017, but he turned them down.

If he had accepted the Wests offer, he would have made $5.4 million over four years.

The mega Parramatta deal—still unsigned as of Feb. 23, The Sporting Base would add—will fire Moses right into the upper echelons of NRL earners alongside halves stars Nathan Cleary, Kalyn Ponga, Ben Hunt, and Daly Cherry-Evans, and second rower David Fifita.

The 28-year-old halfback has played 131 games for the Eels since moving from Concord in 2017. Last season he guided the gold-and-blues to a decade-long high, playing in the 2022 NRL grand final. The Parramatta squad lost to arch-rivals the Panthers and had to watch Penrith lift their second consecutive trophy.

Moses was with the Tigers between 2014 and 2017 and made 67 appearances.

Before anything was agreed, Moses told media he wanted everything wrapped up before round one.

“I think I’ve handled this situation a lot better than what I have in the past. I’m fully focused on Parramatta and coming to training where I can rip in with the boys,” he said. “Hopefully, everything else sorts itself out before the new year.” Download Our Free NRL App

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