The St George Illawarra Dragons raised plenty of eyebrows with their off-season recruitment strategy, and one signing which surprised many was that of former Wests Tigers player Moses Mbye.
Mbye failed to live up to the value of his enormous contract over four seasons as the Tigers, playing just 63 games for the club.
The three-time Queensland representative had previously switched as a highly regarded recruit from the Canterbury Bulldogs, where he made his NRL debut in 2014.
He has played 157 matches, and turned himself into a genuine utility, revealing to Fox Sports that it is the exact role he wants to play in 2022.
โI think 14 is going to be my goal this year,โ Mbye told the publication
โThe initial conversations with Hook (Griffin) we havenโt really spoken too much about positions.
โI have been training everywhere just trying to cover as many roles as I can so that I am able to cover that No.14 role if needed.
โI have been doing a little bit of work at No.6 and at fullback. I have been doing some work at No.9 helping Macca (McCullough).
โIโve been training everywhere so like I have done in the past couple of seasons if we get injuries or suspensions and Covid is another factor now. So Iโll be ready and able to cover those positions for the boys.โ
Mbye wanting the number 14 jersey comes as no surprise, given the players in front of him.
He has turned himself into a player who can play fullback, centre, halves or hooker, but sitting behind Tyrell Sloan at the back, Zac Lomax and the Feagai brothers in the centres, Ben Hunt, Jayden Sullivan and Talatau Amone in the halves, and Andrew McCullough at hooker, Mbye was little chance of starting when he signed his deal with the Dragons.
Given Sullivan's efforts at hooker during the final games of last year, he has a valid claim over the number 14 jersey if Amone is selected ahead of him in the halves to partner Hunt, while Amone himself played in the centres on occasion last season.
Despite being a highly regarded recruit when he signed with the Tigers, Mbye admitted to the publication that he was "on the nose" by the time he left the club.
โI had a couple of conversations with Hook and I was probably a little bit on the nose at the Tigers as well,โ Mbye said.
โIt was timely that Hook showed interest in me coming here. It is a bit of a fresh start for myself."
The Dragons will play two trial games against the Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs over the next fortnight, before opening their season against the New Zealand Warriors on the Sunshine Coast.
