'I was upset for him': Matured Moses ready to step in for injured Cleary

New NSW halfback Mitchell Moses has lauded Nathan Cleary as the game's best player and declared himself ready to help the Blues create Origin history in his absence.

With Cleary ruled out by a hamstring injury, Moses was called into replace him for Origin II in Brisbane on June 21 after making an undeniable case for the NSW No.7 jersey in Parramatta's 34-12 defeat of Canterbury on Monday.

After replacing Cleary when he was injured for the final match of the 2021 series, Moses has been waiting for another opportunity but the Eels halfback said he felt sorry for the Panthers star.

“Nath has been the best player for the last four years, in the comp almost, so it is unfortunate to see," Moses said.

“I was upset for him, I guess, when I saw what happened to him. He had a lot of pressure on him after the game and to go and do that, and not be able to prove himself after it, is tough.

“As a rugby league player you want to prove the critics wrong, I guess, and he doesn’t get the chance to, so it is unfortunate for him.

“He has been the best player for the last four years, so I am just sitting behind him, I suppose.”

Moses produced two try assists, a line break and a line break assist, while running 120 metres with the ball, but what would have impressed Blues coach Brad Fittler was a text book cover tackle late in the match.

The Eels led by 22 points with just eight minutes to go but Moses chased a runway Jacob Preston for 40 metres after an intercept and dived at his legs to make a one-on-one tackle around his ankles.

“For the ability of Mitch to get back there and the work ethic and the want and desire to do it, that has got to be from his team-mates and from within,” Eels coach Brad Arthur said. "I think he is made for Origin."

Moses, who last year steered the Eels to the grand final and captained Lebanon at the World Cup, played through the pain of a fracture in his back for 73 minutes during his previous Origin appearance, a 20-18 win by Queensland. 

“It was a great opportunity and it was obviously a great experience but it was tough, I got hit pretty hard early in the game," Moses said.

“I was just biting down on my mouthguard for 70 minutes and trying my best. I didn’t want to let anyone down. It was unfortunate we didn’t get the win that night but we had won the series."

The Blues travel to Suncorp Stadium needing to defy Origin history by winning in Game II in Brisbane and then clinching the decider, after losing the opening match 26-18 at Adelaide Oval.

However, Arthur has no doubt that Moses is the man who can lead NSW to a series victory after watching his maturity at the Eels since 2017.

"If you talk about his football, his kicking game is very good. Teams can come after him and try and put that pressure on him, but he’s kicking game never seems to miss with it," Arthur said.

“Then you add his running game to it, but I think the biggest improvement in Mitch that we have seen as a club is his defence and he is a very good defender. And then he has become calmer and more mature.

"I thought the Bulldogs threw plenty at us and he just stayed calm. Every time they thought they got a bit of a sniff back in the game he continued to kick long into that right hand corner, he  and didn’t stray from it and built some pressure.

“When it got to 24-6, maybe a couple of years ago Mitch would have tried to turn that into 40 [points] straight away but he didn't.

"He just kept kicking down into the corners and stayed patient with it, and I think especially in Origin, or the big games, that doesn't come that easy."