Tigers up hunt for Moses, want him as lynchpin in 2023 lineup

3 years ago - Sportingbase

The Wests Tigers have made an audacious bid to bring Mitchell Moses back to Tigertown, and it’s not for 2024 either. Unlike other NRL suitors chasing the star Eel, the orange-and-black outfit wants to plug him right into their team next season.

The Campbelltown club is staging a shock raid for ex-Tiger Moses.

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As reported by Channel 7, Tim Sheens wants to plug Moses right into the heart of the Tigers as soon as next season. That flies in the face of most other plays for the 28-year-old, including the Bulldogs bid—tipped by The Sporting Base last month—which involves luring Moses away from Parramatta at the end of his contract, which is winding down.

Moses would replace Jackson Hastings if the move came off. The Tigers let him leave to the Knights earlier this offseason in a trade deal that netted them front-rower David Klemmer.

The Eels have (no surprises) issued a hands-off warning behind the scenes. They want to keep Moses at least until the end of the 2023 NRL season, News Corp reports, and have tabled an extension for their no.7 too.

Nothing has been looked at on that front by Moses because of his Lebanon campaign.

The biggest deciding factor on the player’s side will be money; with this next deal likely his last blockbuster signing package in the NRL, it’s a good chance for him to crack seven figures.

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According to Michelle Bishop at Seven, the reported John Bateman move has also been held up by this Tigers raid. Wests want to keep space in their salary cap clear if they can steal Moses away a year early, and so have slammed the brakes on the Englishman’s locked-up $250,000 transfer from the Wigan Warriors.

“The Wests Tigers have actually agreed to pay Bateman’s transfer fee from the UK. That’s all happening,” Bishop has reported. “The Mitchell Moses situation could be the thing that’s holding it up. The Tigers are going all guns blazing and they actually want Moses for 2023. They need to leave some cash in the cap for that to become a reality.

“Both Bateman and Moses share the same manager, so they clearly hold the trump card.”

The Eels have a tricky start to 2023, hosting the Storm on the Thursday opener. The Tigers, on the other hand, play last in the round against the Gold Coast Titans.

The 2023 NRL season is inked in to begin in the very first week of March.

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