“#Stillfriends.”
It’s the full stop on the Mitchell Moses-Tallyn Da Silva discourse that’s gripped the NRL world for the last 24 hours after Da Silva copped an all-time on-field spray on Sunday – and hopefully the one that puts the entire story to bed as quickly as it started.
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The Eels won 19–18 in a nailbiter at CommBank Stadium, but it all looked like it was going to go the other way when rookie Da Silva coughed up 10 of the worst minutes of rugby league seen in quite some time. Fans, commentators, and players alike were gobsmacked, and it all led to captain Moses unleashing on the youngster in a well-warranted tirade.
The spray came after Da Silva tried to break the line on a fifth-tackle play, leaving Moses calling for the ball. Cleanly tackled, Da Silva instead earned himself a dressing down from his Parramatta captain, ending in: “Tallyn, you f***ing c**t.”
🚨🏉 Blow-up from Moses mid-game, mainly aimed at Tallyn Da Silva. Play on? Or bad leadership?pic.twitter.com/FCbmrHG556
— The Sporting Base – NRL (@BaseNrl) August 11, 2025
The NRL world exploded, with many suggesting Moses had gone too far. The Daily Mail even leaned towards calling it workplace bullying – maybe trying to channel the Lachie Galvin saga – but the whole thing has quickly been put to bed by Da Silva’s comment on social media. “Clutch #stillfriends,” the youngster wrote on Moses’ Instagram page.
And that should be the end of it: A good lesson for the 20-year-old, a quick outburst, and nothing more.
Among our Sporting Base readers on social media, the general consensus was “play on.”
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This Base writer tends to agree; Da Silva had every chance to throw the game away for the Eels, and considering they only just bounced away from the bottom of the ladder, and potentially avoided a wooden spoon duel with the two points, it was vital Parramatta got over the line against the North Queensland Cowboys when the chance arose.
It almost feels like it comes down to who’s been in situations like that in sport before, and who hasn’t.
Most in the game seem to agree too. Mid-match, Michael Ennis suggested while in commentary for Fox League that Moses would have to “have a conversation” with the newly-signed Parramatta hooker after he ignored his halves’ plans.
And even Moses seemed to put it all behind him immediately.
“Yeah, it happens on the field… was a tense game,” he admitted afterwards.
Then, instead of dwelling on what he didn’t see as any kind of drama, he talked about the lessons. “We’ll learn a lot of lessons from that, I think. We’ve got a really young squad at the moment, and it’s better to learn the lessons winning the game than having a loss.”
So, all wrapped up? Hopefully – and the Eels now head on to face South Sydney on Saturday.
