On the eve of his breakout State of Origin II masterclass, Mitchell Moses told NSW coach Michael Maguire that the left foot injury that had sidelined him for most of the season would prevent him from taking up the goal-kicking duties.
“The foot’s fine, but I just didn’t even try,” Moses said afterwards. “Zac [Lomax] has been hitting them well.”
Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with his right foot.
There are a multitude of reasons why NSW was able to so comprehensively defeat the Maroons at the MCG to level the series. There was the dominance of the Blues engine room, the winning of just about every play-the-ball and the obligatory flashes of brilliance from Latrell Mitchell and Lomax.
But the single biggest factor in the result was the kicking game of Moses. Conscripted after Nicho Hynes - albeit in a team containing just 12 for almost the duration - was unable to impose himself in the series opener, the Parramatta halfback put on a masterclass for the ages.
On 13 occasions, Moses put boot to ball. Just about every time, he found his mark.
The very first kick set the tone for the night.
Maguire identified superstar Queensland fullback Reece Walsh as the danger man. So the plan was hatched to take away his kick-reception game.
It’s why Moses kicked almost exclusively to Murray Taulagi. It was the start of a torrid night for the Maroons left winger, who was constantly forced to bring the ball back from deep within his own half.
As Murray kept having to field kicks that landed near his in-goal, a frustrated Walsh couldn’t get into the game. At one stage the Broncos No.1 was reduced to taking the type of hit-up normally reserved for his forwards.
Midway through the first half, Walsh began to second-guess himself.
Moses came agonisingly close to executing a 40-20, finding the space between Walsh and Taulagi. Upon hitting the MCG turf, the ball took a wicked off-break and found touch.
Had Moses positioned himself just a metre further back, he would have been able to earn NSW a repeat set. But the biggest takeaway was Walsh’s reticence to attack the ball and take it on the full.
“That should have been Reece Walsh’s ball every day of the week,” former Maroons skipper Cameron Smith lamented in commentary for Nine.
And then came the highlight moment.
Given the match was played at the home of the AFL, this play would have most resonated with the Melburnians. The ball is first shifted left Jarome Luai - we’ll speak more about his contributions shortly - who looks up and sees little opportunity on his side of the field. The ball is fired back to Moses who steadies, sums up the situation, and then hoists the perfect cross-field kick to future Parramatta teammate Moses.
It is a thing of beauty. The kick’s height and depth is exquisite, giving the advancing Lomax the chance to outleap the hapless Tualagi. Lomax takes the mark, grounds the footy and the game is effectively over.
“The Blues kicking game has been absolutely perfect,” former NSW coach Brad Fittler said in commentary.
At this point it is worth mentioning the role of Luai. While Moses deservedly earned most of the plaudits, Luai’s work with the boot was also of the highest quality. The Penrith playmaker played his part, putting through eight kicks of his own. Three of those resulted in a line drop-out.
Significantly, it gave the Blues a second last-tackle option, meaning the Maroons weren’t able to focus all of their kick-pressure on Moses.
Another highlight moment came when Moses and Luai combined in the most unusual fashion.
Luai was tackled with the ball on the fourth tackle, leaving Moses as the only last-play option. A quick play-the-ball would have been beneficial, but instead Luai produced one of the slowest in history. Having lost his shoe, the Tigers-bound half took an eternity to put it back on.
This should have allowed Queensland the time to set its defensive line and target Moses, who was lurking on the right side of the ruck. However, seeing that’s where Walsh was also positioned in the backfield, he sprinted to the left of the play-the-ball, grubbered the ball into vacant in-goal, for Brian To’o to touch down.
Walsh, unable to respond in time, again got caught out of position.
On one of the occasions that Walsh was actually required to contest a high ball, he wasn’t up to the task.
Lomax was always an aerial threat, a combination long-suffering Eels fans can look forward to.
It was a familiar pattern for most of the night. Moses would kick long, forcing Tualagi to field the ball deep in his own territory.
The result was a NSW victory, with Moses earning the player-of-the-match award.
“I would go so far as to say this is the best game I’ve ever seen Mitchell play,” Johns said.
Now that the series has gone to a Suncorp decider, the challenge for Moses is to kick the Maroons while they are down.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.