NRL News Andrew Johns denounces “ridiculous” criticism of Mitch Moses inclusion in Origin

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Eight Immortals Andrew Johns has hit back at “ridiculous” criticism of Mitch Moses’ State of Origin debut for NSW in their third game against Queensland.

Moses teamed up with Jack Wighton to form a brand new pair of halves for NSW amid some conjecture from Souths stars and former Blues Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker should have received Brad’s No.6 and No.7 jerseys Fittler.

After a slow start, Moses ended the night with two assists and a handful of big defensive plays in the 20-18 loss. But despite his best efforts, the newcomer was quickly pinned in some circles as the scapegoat for NSW’s failed series sweep.

This led to Parramatta icon Peter Sterling launching a passionate half-back defense this weekend. And now Johns, who works closely with Mitchell at the Eels, says he’s heard enough.

Andrew Johns criticized Mitchell Moses’ criticisms. (Getty)

“It’s ridiculous,” Johns said of the Moses-style criticisms.

“Being in your first game as a half-back and running the show is incredibly difficult.

“I talked to Mitchell about his performance, obviously working with him at Parramatta, I thought early on that he was struggling to win in the game – whether it was about combinations with Jack Wighton but Damien Cook too. But I thought the longer the game, the more comfortable he looked.

“The last 10 minutes that the game was in play, that’s when he really stood up.”

Mitch Moïse (Getty)

Moses and Wighton had their moments in Origin III but were unable to lead the Blues past a rejuvenated Maroons outfit boosted by heroic plays from Ben Hunt and Kalyn Ponga.

Still, Sterling was perplexed at some of the criticism filtering Moses’ path.

“I’m sick of the name of Mitchell Moses being mentioned,” Sterling told Triple M.

“He had a good game. His defense was superb, his kicks were excellent. If there was a criticism I had, he maybe didn’t push enough on the backs of the attackers, when they went ahead and there may have been second-phase play.

The spirits heat up as the chestnuts hold on

“Again, the critics are the ones who said his job is to hand the ball over to Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic.

“And then the statistic comes out that he didn’t have any run for any yard … some of the best games I’ve ever played, I didn’t have any run for any yard, you can make them appear as you want. .

“I’m above the critics. I love Adam Reynolds and I love Cody Walker and I respect them tremendously as players – I don’t even know why they’re in the conversation now.”

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