Ownership of his form and that of his team. Regardless of whether things are going well at Parramatta or not.

"I have to play more consistent footy to put us in a good position to be able to play finals footy this year," Moses said.

"I've narrowed my game down. I was blaming a lot of other people for my form last year. I had a good, hard look at myself and I thought I needed to change something and I changed it.

"I feel like it's turned out good for me."

Moses recently signed a three-year extension, a clear indication the Eels believe they can build the club around the key playmaker. It is a remarkable turnaround from the pre-season, when he was told after Parramatta's last-placed finish that he was free to walk away immediately.

While no one will admit as much, the playing group was divided over whether the team belonged to Moses or Corey Norman. When the latter left, Moses was at a crossroads. It led to a period of introspection, followed by a burning desire to turn things around.

"Just how we played last year, we had the team to do it but just couldn't come together," he said.

"That was a bit on myself as a halfback, to bring the team together. I really took it upon myself before we came back to pre-season to change my attitude. To change everything. I felt I was blaming a lot of other people for my problems.

"That's the biggest thing, I've really taken ownership of my own game. I've had a lot of conversations with [coach] Brad [Arthur], he's been outstanding for me.

"I sat down with him in the pre-season and said I'm going to prove to you that I am the man to be the halfback here.

"We've had a lot of conversations and I feel mine and Brad's relationship is very good at the moment.

"I'm able to talk to him about anything. He's helped me enormously this year. I was blaming a lot of people for my mistakes in the team and also my own footy. That's probably a turning point."

Moses' turnaround in form is as dramatic as that of his team. Parramatta have the opportunity to leapfrog Manly into fifth spot on the ladder with victory over their arch-rivals at Brookvale on Sunday. They will have to do so without Blake Ferguson, a late scratching due to a knee infection.

Since making his NRL debut in 2014, Moses has played finals football just once. The former Tiger had opportunities to go elsewhere but re-signed with Parramatta in the belief that September footy was possible there.

"There were 100 per cent opportunities, but I didn't want to leave something I was struggling at," he said. "I let the club know straight away once we started negotiating that I wanted to stay here, I want to work on what we have here. It was more having a look at my own game and breaking it down.

"Not listening to everyone else outside of footy."

The criticism of Moses is that he is the sort of playmaker who, when the team is winning by 10, can help you win a game by 20 or 30 points, but goes missing when times are tight. The 24-year-old concedes it is something he is working to address.

"I feel like I've come on a bit this year - knowing when to put on the big plays and when to take it under the arm and take a tackle, things like that," he said.

"I've been working pretty closely with Brad to fix that in my game and I feel that's coming along slowly. Hopefully it comes out at the right time of the year which is now coming into the end of the season."