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Moses says team united behind Arthur as Fittler rejects Eels links

Mitch Moses has rubbished suggestions of unrest in Parramatta's camp as they attempt to save their faltering season leading into the finals.

The star halfback brushed aside reports of infighting as nothing more than "outside noise", but revealed he and captain Clint Gutherson had "addressed some stuff" with the squad.

"It's nothing that we need to speak about now," Moses said in a media zoom session on Wednesday.

"We know that we haven't been up to scratch and we need to change that. That's what we're looking to do this week.

"The playing group feels pretty fine. Everyone's up in spirits. We know what we're doing wrong and we need to fix that."

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Blues coach Brad Fittler's name has been reported as a potential target for Parramatta if they were to part ways with Arthur in the future but the former international said he was unaware of any interest.

Speaking on Freddy And the Eighth on Wide World of Sports with Andrew Johns, Fittler - who coached the Roosters from 2007-09 and has guided NSW to three Origin wins from the past four years - said he had not been contacted by any Eels officials.

"I’m not doing anything," Fittler said.

"What I do at the moment I love; I love coaching NSW… and also with Channel Nine. I love being involved in rugby league.

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"I’m going kicking and screaming from my roles at the moment, let me tell you. But you never know what’s around the corner.

"At the moment the Roosters aren’t losing their coach, Penrith isn’t losing theirs … so I’ve got to say, if I was going to go back to NRL coaching, Parramatta would be a great club."

Moses made light of recent reports of disharmony amongst the team due to hotel room allocations, quipping: "Gutho's got a two-level penthouse or something, so I think everyone else is a bit off it.

"No, that's just a little bit of noise. Look, I don't know where any of that stuff has come from. But we know as a group that we're pretty tight and there's definitely none of that happening."

What can't be denied is Parramatta must find a solution to their form slump having lost four straight games to slip to sixth place.

Saturday's clash with the Cowboys, who are aiming to snap their nine-match losing streak, could give the Eels a much-needed jump-start.

Moses knows a convincing victory would go some way to quietening their many detractors in the countdown to the finals.

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"We know what we need to fix up and I think if we can stay on top of those things and focus on our footy and not focus on the opposition as much, we can get ourselves out of this little rut," he said.

"That's all part of it. When you're losing games, people are going to take things out of context and the media pick up every little thing.

"They're probably going to hear a little whisper here or they'll make up a little whisper there. And then it snowballs.

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"We know what's going on in our circle and we've got that pretty tight. We're not really worried about any of the outside noise."

Coach Brad Arthur was disheartened after last round's 56-10 loss to Sea Eagles and admitted he didn't have the answers in the aftermath.

Questions have been raised about Arthur's ability to lead the club to a title, but Moses went into bat for the passionate mentor.

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"It'd be tough for him, I guess. He's not the one going out there and making the tackles and all that type of stuff. That's completely on us and we need to be better as a playing group," Moses said.

"He's given us good game plans to go out there and perform and we're not really doing that at the moment for him.

"We've got to take a lot of that ownership on us as a football team and as players. We need to be better. If we get a win this week and get back on the track of winning, everything else will change."

Meanwhile, hooker Joey Lussick said the injured Reed Mahoney, whose spot he has taken, is providing plenty of advice.

"Me and Reed have got a really good relationship," Lussick said the rake, whose season was ended by a shoulder injury in round 21.

"Since day one, we've been working our backsides off, helping each other whenever we can. Obviously, he's since been injured which is unfortunate. It's an opportunity for me.

"But Reed's been with me there in the video sessions ... talking to me as much as he can to help out with where I can help the team."

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Lussick, who debuted for Manly in 2017 and then spent three years with Salford in the Super League, has been linked to a return to England next season to play under Kristian Woolf at St Helens.

"I'm just focused on the rest of this year. After the season's finished, I'll be looking at that," the 25-year-old said.

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