ST HELENS coach Paul Wellens was encouraged by what he saw from new recruit Moses Mbye as Leeds were edged out on Friday night.
The 29-year-old Queensland Origin ace, who can play in the backs or hooker, joined from St George Illawarra Dragons after the departure of Joey Lussick and made his debut off the bench in the 22-18 win over the Rhinos days after arriving in the country.
“I was very happy with what we got from Moses, considering he only stepped off a plane around 72 hours earlier,” said Wellens.
“I like what he did when he was out in the field. You could see that he is a player who can liven us up, especially around the ruck, and he gives us great versatility.
“He played at nine, but he’s comfortable in the halves and at fullback and I am confident that moving forward, he will add a great deal to us.”
Wellens was also full of praise for the younger members of his squad who stood up to replace unavailable experienced stars in the pack.
“Our squad is fairly deep and throughout the year we have a lot of lads disappointed because they are not getting opportunities when we are fully fit,” he explained.
“We saw with the likes of Sam Royle, Lewis Baxter and George Delaney that when they do get out on the field, they give absolutely everything that they have.
“You can’t believe how young George is when he performs like that through the middle of the field.
“When we have a lot of kids who come through our junior system who get out on the field and perform like that, it’s credit to the work done before me to get them ready for this environment. We get the fruits of that at times like this.”
