The Bryce is right: Cartwright poised to re-sign with Eels
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No one else was interested in Bryce Cartwright when Parramatta threw him a lifeline.
Which is why the rejuvenated back rower will turn down lucrative offers from elsewhere to stay put.
“I don’t want to be going anywhere else,” Cartwright said. “I love Parramatta, they gave me a chance when I had no one. I’ve got some really close friends here and I love [coach] Brad [Arthur], all the coaching staff. So I’d love to stay here.”
The parties are close to finalising a two-year extension, a process that would have been completed already had there been clarity over the salary-cap figure beyond this year. The commitment is a reward for both parties.
Cartwright arrived at Parramatta in 2021 at a crossroads. After failing to fulfil his undoubted potential at the Panthers and Titans, he has overhauled his game. More discretion surrounds the use of his trademark flashy offloads, while his defence – so maligned for much of his career – has improved considerably.
The biggest beneficiary has been Mitchell Moses. Cartwright ensures ball-carriers seeking to target the halfback have to get through him first.
Bryce Cartwright is in career-best form at Parramatta after failing to fulfil his potential at the Panthers and Titans.Credit: NRL Photos
“Unbelievable,” Moses said. “I feel that comfortable next to him. The footy he’s playing at the moment is a credit to him. The style of footy that he has had to adapt to and change to – what he’s doing now to what he used to do – it’s massive. It’s a big thing. The footy that he used to play, to just put that aside and play with the tough mentality that he’s doing, I feel that safe out there next to him.
“It’s the work that he’s doing off the field, getting his body right and things like that, how he trains. He had a big preseason with us this year and obviously we didn’t have Laney [Shaun Lane] at the start of the year, so we needed a back-rower to stand up for us. He was one of them. He protects me a lot. He’s been good.”
The Cartwright-Moses combination will need to again click if Parramatta has any chance of upsetting North Queensland on Saturday night. The Eels will be without the suspended trio of Regan Campbell-Gillard, Maika Sivo and Dylan Brown for a clash against one of the NRL’s form teams.
The blue and golds entered round 21 in seventh spot, but will be leapfrogged by the Cowboys – and will likely fall out of the top eight – if beaten in Townsville.
The last time Moses played at Queensland Country Bank Stadium – in last year’s preliminary final – he missed the birth of his first child.
“I was a bit all over the shop,” Moses said. “It’s a bit different going up this year. It’s a big game for us and we need to get the win.”
After losing a raft of close games to some of the league’s heavyweights at the start of the season, there is little margin for error. Parramatta’s tough run home consists of games against the Cowboys, Storm, Dragons, Broncos, Roosters and Panthers, before the respite of a final-round bye.
“We’ve just got to get wins. That’s it, it’s as simple as that,” Moses said. “It’s very tight around that eighth spot, so we just need to keep winning.
“I feel like the start of our season really set up the middle of our season with the teams that we versed and how tough the games were. We obviously go back to versing those teams now. So going into the finals – if we’re there – will be a big plus.”
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