Mitchell Moses capped off a career-defining year in 2016 by being voted by the Club’s coaching staff and playing group as the Wests Tigers Player of the Year.
In just his second full season of first-grade, the talented five-eighth showed tremendous leadership and ability as he stepped up to lead the team from the front — registering six tries and a team-high 18 try-assists. With Luke Brooks sidelined to injury late in the season, Moses’ took his game to a new level — guiding the team to within one win of the top eight — before making his representative debut with the Prime Minister’s XIII.
In a 58-0 win for the visitors, the playmaker scored three tries and four goals — showing that further representative honours are perhaps not too far away for Moses.
Incredibly, since his debut game in Round 17, 2014, Moses has missed just one game of football — ruled out in the warm-up from his side’s Round 9 win over the Rabbitohs.
At just 22 years of age, the future certainly looks bright for Moses and Wests Tigers.
2016 Year in Numbers
Games |
Tries |
Metres |
Linebreaks |
Try Assists |
Tackle Breaks |
23 |
6 |
1175m |
15 |
18 |
31 |
Top Try — Round 24 vs. Penrith Panthers
On a night when things weren’t going right for Wests Tigers, Moses was a clear standout for the visitors, with his solo try late in the match indicative of the form he was in. After setting up his side’s first try of the night with a huge break up the middle, Moses capped off his strong night with the final try of the match — collecting an offload 25m out from the Panthers line, stepping and swerving his way through several defenders to score under the posts. However, Penrith would go on to win the Round 24 clash 40-10.
Best Game — Round 25 vs. New Zealand Warriors
Needing to win to stay in the hunt for the top eight, Wests Tigers found themselves trailing a dominant Warriors side 24-18 with just 10 minutes remaining before Moses took over. The Carlingford Cougars junior nailed a 40/20 to put his team on the attack, before putting Sauaso Sue over untouched in the 70th minute to level the scores. Minutes later, Moses then stepped back on the inside of three defenders, before bursting into a gap and somehow extending himself over the line to score. The playmaker then put the icing on the cake in the final play of the game, with his huge bomb splitting the Warriors’ defenders and allowing Kevin Naiqama to score in the corner, giving Jason Taylor’s side new life at a finals berth with a stunning 36-24 come-from-behind victory.
Magic Moment — Round 12 vs. Brisbane Broncos
Having missed a field goal to win the game against the Melbourne Storm in Round 7, Moses showed no nerves this time around against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium. Coming into the match as rank outsiders, a plucky Wests Tigers outfit had done enough to lead the home side late in the match, before Moses coolly slotted a field goal from 20m out in the final minutes to give his side a remarkable 19-18 upset win.
Milestones and Achievements
Wests Tigers NRL Player of the Year Award
Wests Tigers Player’s Player of the Year Award
1 game for Prime Minister’s XIII
50 NRL games — Round 18 vs. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
