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Mbye comfortable with centre if it means more Wests Tigers wins

Moses Mbye is developing a bit of a 'Mr Everywhere Man' reputation but for the moment he is going nowhere other than helping the Wests Tigers shift out of a mid-season slump.

Coach Michael Maguire was adamanat Mbye was the captain of his team and would be seeing out his contract, despite having shifted the 25-year-old from fullback to centre in Friday night's 28-0 loss to the Raiders at Bankwest Stadium.

Several reports, including one by NRL.com, had Mbye feeling restless with positional changes Maguire has been making in regards to Mbye.

"I've got, I don't know how long left [on my contract], but I'm not going anywhere…" Mbye said in the Tigers sheds post-match. He is signed until the end of 2022 after leaving the Bulldogs mid-year in 2018.

"You don't really ask, you just put trust in the staff and your boss," he said of the reports he might be looking elsewhere for a club.

"I'm not going to be blowing up unless they pick up the phone [to me] and they haven't – so nothing to worry about."

Moving Mbye around only about improving team for Maguire

But the events of 12 months ago when coach Dean Pay released him from Canterbury – where he made his debut in 2014 and played hooker in the grand final loss to South Sydney – are re-surfacing.

"It's more annoying than anything. You settle in somewhere and it's not just you that buys into an organisation, it's your family too."

Having played five positions at the Bulldogs, including fullback, Mbye started at No.1 this year under Maguire. But a drop in form has the coach thinking he can use Mbye's versatility beter.

He was named No.1 last Tuesday to face the Raiders but Maguire made a late switch and started Mbye at left centre at Bankwest Stadium. Then a head knock to Mahe Fonua meant Mbye went back into the custodian role with Corey Thompson switching to the left wing.

Mbye pulled off a brilliant cover defending tackle on Raiders winger Jordan Rapana as he made a 30-metre sprint down the eastern sideline in the 21st minute.

Fonua passed his HIA and Mbye went back to centre. Mbye only found out on Thursday night, 24 hours before kick-off, that he would be playing there.

"It was actually quite good by Madge because he didn't want to disrupt my preparation for State of Origin. He wanted to wait until I finished the game, which I thank him for.

"So I found out Thursday night. I obviously didn't train with the team during the week but I thought I still handled the defensive role there well."

Match Highlights: Wests Tigers v Raiders

And if he has to remain at centre for the rest of the season, he can swallow that. He made his debut for the Bulldogs at centre and during the 2014-15 seasons played seven games there.

"At the moment we're just plodding along and we're trying to find ways to improve our attack. We need to score points – it didn't work tonight but we've got to keep trying we've lost a few lately [three from the past four games].

"We just need to click better. I'll give it a go; I've played there before and had a bit of joy there."

Since Mbye has played fullback, centre, five-eighth, halfback and hooker, it begs the question of which position he prefers.

"On the field," was the reply.

"I do really enjoy playing fullback but sometimes being able to play that second position can be a blessing and a curse. Fortunately for me it worked last week as it got me to play State of Origin.

"You just to whatever will benefit your team the best.

"So we tossed up this idea up – don't know if it will be the same next week – but we'll do the review and see what went wrong and what went right."

The Wests Tigers head to Townsville next Friday to face the Cowboys – one of the clubs said to be interested in securing Mbye as a fullback if he leaves the Concord-based club.

Acknowledgement of Country

Wests Tigers respect and honour the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.

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