‘I’m confident they’ll both play’: Eels welcome back star duo as young gun drops back to the bench for Sharks clash

Interim Eels coach Trent Barrett says star duo Mitchell Moses and Clint Gutherson won’t automatically turn them Parramatta into world beaters again ahead of the influential pair’s long-awaited return form injury against Cronulla on Thursday night.

Parramatta has fallen to 15th spot without their attacking weapons and now play the ladder-leading Sharks who will be without Origin stars Nicho Hynes and Cameron McInnes.

Moses hasn’t played since he fractured his foot in round three, while Gutherson has been out for a month following minor knee surgery having played through the pain this season which required him to be needled up and have fluid drained on game day.

“They’ve done everything they can. They’ve had a full week of contact and a full week of training and pulled up well, so I’m confident they’ll both play,” Barrett said.

“They give everyone else around them a lot of confidence. They’re both very experienced players – one’s our captain and the other one’s our halfback – so we’ve certainly missed the pair of them over the course of the past few months.

“They’re big inclusions for us, but that alone doesn’t mean we’re automatically going to win the game. We’ve got a lot of work to do against a good side.”

Gutherson has worked tirelessly to return this week, while the Eels have desperately missed Moses who would have likely been the NSW halfback had he not been injured.

Barrett stopped short of saying he expects his star halfback to be at his brilliant best on Thursday night, with the coach calling on the rest of the squad to hold onto the ball and make their tackles to make it easier for Moses.

“We all know how he can play, but he’s been out for a while so it’s just really important that we control the ball for him,” he said, with the Eels simply needing a win to keep their finals hopes alive.

“The things that we’ve let ourselves down in over the past few weeks aren’t going to automatically be fixed just because Mitchell and Gutho are there.”

Gutherson will return at fullback this week, with young gun Blaize Talagi dropping to the bench as the club works hard on convincing him to extend his current deal.

Talagi has had some terrific moments at the back but is still learning the role which is why it makes no sense to move the skipper at this stage of their careers.

“Gutho’s strength is all his effort areas, and Blaize is still learning positionally how to play fullback,” Barrett said.

“There’s no doubt that Blaize is a terrific attacking player, but he’s still very green in some parts of his game, and that’s a development for Blaize.

“I think we’re able to fit them both in the side, and Blaize will come off the bench and he can play anywhere. It’s good for him because he’s a bit tired after a big month.”