He may be the nephew of Tigers legend Ben Elias, but Holy Cross five-eighth Mitchell Moses is fast making a name of his own after he scored a hat trick in his side’s 56-4 demolition of Erindale at Leichhardt Oval on Friday.
The Tigers SG Ball star ran riot on his uncle’s old stomping ground, scoring three tries in 12 minutes and setting up another three as Holy Cross ran in 10 tries to kick off their 2012 GIO Schoolboys Cup campaign.
Providing the perfect foil to Moses’ running game was halves partner and fellow Tigers teammate Luke Brooks, who directed the side with composure and grabbed two tries of his own, as coach Tim White revealed the pair had been terrorising opposition sides for years.
“These two have pretty much grown up together, and know each other’s games backwards, but it’s actually their first game together in three years due to injuries. So it’s good to see these two clicking in attack, because we all know what they can do,” White said after the match.
With two first half tries coming from chip and chases, Holy Cross seemingly had the ball on a string as they raced to a 40-0 halftime lead, and coach White agreed it was hard to fault with his side.
“We’re pretty happy with this for a first game, especially with the discipline we had in that first half. It dropped off a bit in the second half, so that’s something we need to work on, but this is the first time we’ve had a full strength side and it’s definitely something to build a season on,” said White.
Playing for pride after the break, Erindale’s forwards muscled up in defence and produced a much better second half display, and were duly rewarded when Raiders SG Ball prop Sonny Tupuola crashed over for a rare four-pointer in the 29th minute.
However Holy Cross resumed usual proceedings soon after and cracked their half century through quick tries to prop Josh Siddle and fullback Chris Moana, the latter coming from a brilliant swerving run by the Tigers custodian to wrap up the match.
Holy Cross now take their impressive form on the road to face Illawarra in Wollongong, while Erindale will welcome the chance to play at home against traditional powerhouse Westfields Sports High in their next pool match.
Holy Cross 56 (M Moses 3, L Brooks 2, C Moana, N Milone, J Wheelhouse, J Siddle, B Deitz tries; M Woods 6, M Moses, L Brooks goals) def. Erindale 4 (S Tupuola try) at Leichhardt Oval, Leichhardt
