While the rugby league world continually goes on about his contract situation, Mitchell Moses just wants a win badly on Friday night.
Set to face a Nicho-less Cronulla Sharks outfit in the early Friday time slot, the halfback will run out in his 200th NRL match at CommBank Stadium, and pray the outcome is better than the milestone matches he's endured.
Debuting as a fullback in 2014, Moses' career got off to a sluggish start after falling 26-10 to the Penrith Panthers whilst wearing a Wests Tigers jersey, a season that saw the utility back win just two of ten games.
His 50th match was no better, falling 32-22 to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs despite kicking five-from-five off the tee in what would prove to be his final full season at Concord.
While a change of scenery midway through 2017 did see the No. 7 break his finals duck, a move to the Parramatta Eels didn't help his milestone success rate, instead falling victim to a South Sydney Rabbitohs-flavoured curse.
The Bunnies are an absolute hoodoo team for the Eels, winning their last six against Parramatta with a combined scoreline of 210-68, averaging out to a 35-11 margin per game.
Despite carrying a 20-6 lead with under 25 minutes to play in 2018, South Sydney scored four tries in 21 minutes to snare a 26-20 victory over the blue and gold in Moses' 100th NRL game, the curse carrying on six years after his debut.
While he'd face the same opponent in game 150, the stakes were raised exponentially in the semi-finals, with Moses facing his second 'straight sets' exit with Parramatta in his second top-four finish.
Thanks to some 'King Gutho' magic, the Eels held an 18-8 lead at the break and looked set to rob South Sydney of their third straight preliminary-final appearance, however, Parramatta went to water in the second half.
Moses' 150th NRL game proved to be his final match of 2020 after the 38-24 loss, copping a 30-6 flogging in the second stanza, and dooming the Eels' halfback to a monumental milestone curse.
Now, set to play his 200th NRL game on Friday, it couldn't happen again, right?
Despite being an elite halfback in the competition, the big moments have often evaded Moses, whether it be milestones or representative matches.
The 28-year-old lost his sole match for New South Wales, went out in straight sets in his first finals campaign, torn apart in his only grand final, and even fell in his singular game for the NRL All Stars.
In fact, the only time Moses has had a winning start in a new jersey was Lebanon's 29-18 win over France at the 2017 World Cup.
Friday night is a hoodoo breaker of all hoodoo breakers for Moses, facing a Cronulla outfit missing the reigning Dally M medallist as well as co-captain Wade Graham, who was found guilty at the judiciary of a grade-one reckless high tackle.
If there was ever a time for Mitchell Moses to shake the dreaded milestone curse, it's at CommBank Stadium on Friday night, with one of these teams destined to start the year 0-2.
