The Parramatta Eels have suffered a massive blow to their finals hopes which now hang on life support as their star halfback Mitchell Moses is likely to be ruled out for the season.
Sitting in tenth position on the NRL ladder, the Eels desperately needed to claim the two points on Friday night against the Brisbane Broncos but instead delivered a humiliating performance that saw them lose 54-10 at The Gabba.
To make matters worse, star halfback Mitchell Moses left the field at halftime and was then ruled out of the match. Moses is suspected of having an eye socket fracture, with coach Brad Arthur stating he will go for scans.
The Parramatta Eels confirmed the injury is a suspected fractured eye socket late on Saturday afternoon and issued a return date if the injury is confirmed.
"The halfback suffered a suspected fractured eye socket in the Eels' Round 24 match against the Broncos. If confirmed, he is expected to be sidelined for six weeks," the statement from the Eels read.
The club will also be without mid-season recruit Andrew Davey next weekend after he failed an HIA against the Broncos.
While they may not be out of the finals race just yet, the absence of Moses will cause major issues with them making the top eight. With three rounds to go, they will take on the Sydney Roosters and Penrith Panthers in must-win games before being awarded two points for the bye in the season's last round.
"It makes it tough, but we are not giving up," Arthur said post-match.
"We are going to keep fighting until it is over. We have got two games and a bye. We will just worry about next week. There was a bit of carnage there with injuries, but we get (prop) Reagan (Campbell-Gillard) and (winger) Maika (Sivo) back next week.
"We will just fight on. This team has been fighting all year, and we will continue to fight.
"It is not like we didn't come here to try. Our attitude was on. You could see that in the first 20 minutes. We were just beaten by a team that was too good for us. It's as simple as that."
Eels skipper Clinton Gutherson also spoke post-match about the reality of having to win the next two games without Moses.
"We have a tight knit group here and we are not going to go into the next two games just playing them. We are going out to win." he said.
"Tonight it didn't go our way. We lost Mitch and it looks like AD [Andrew Davey] as well but whoever steps in will do the job."
Speaking toย Triple M on Saturday morning, close friend Aaron Woods addressed the situation regarding Moses, stating he will need an operation to fix a fractured cheekbone.
โYeah, I've spoken to Mitch and unfortunately it's a fractured cheekbone and he'll need an operation, which is probably season over,โ Woods told Triple M.
There is yet to be an update on Mitchell Moses' situation, but Zero Tackleย will keep you updated when there is a later development on the injury.
