Eels star Mitchell Moses has revealed he missed the birth of his first child to play in Parramatta’s successful preliminary final match against the Cowboys.
As his team looks to win its first premiership since 1986, the playmaker said his family had laid his grandmother to rest on Monday, before welcoming his first born child via FaceTime before the game.
“The whole week has been a rollercoaster. I lost my grandmother last week and we laid her to rest on Monday,” he said.
“I’m welcoming my first child over FaceTime for the first time, deadset four hours ago, and now I’m playing in a grand final next week.
“I’ll be getting the boys on the plane as quick as possible so I can go meet my little one. We’ve got two names but she didn’t want to make the call by herself so she’s waiting for me to get there and then we’ll make the call.”
Parramatta last played in a grand final in 2009, having not tasted ultimate victory since their 4-2 win over the Bulldogs 36 years ago.
“They made a lot of sacrifices along the way. Mitchell Moses made a massive sacrifice for his teammates today,” coach Brad Arthur said.
“Over the last couple of days, he didn’t get to see the birth of his daughter. That’s huge and it just shows you … anyway you can see the last 10 minutes how we defended and just kept turning up for each other.
“The boys really wanted it. We have got a lot of players here that might be leaving to go to other clubs, but they have been a big part of what we have done.
“They cherish every last day that they have got with each other.”
The Eels will play the winner of tonight’s Panthers and Rabbitohs clash, starting at 7.50pm AEST.
