Cowboys coach accuses Mitchell Moses of diving to win game-clinching penalty as star drops F-bomb after thriller

Mitchell Moses' match against the Cowboys had it all.

An all-time spray to his hooker, a match-winning field goal and a post-match f-bomb.

The halfback was also the man who hit the turf from an obstruction that stopped a winning try for the Cowboys.

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The blunder that led to the chance for the Cowboys came from Josh Addo-Carr. An awkward bomb from Jake Clifford went up to the winger who tried to put his foot to it instead of catching.

The ball bounced in front of Addo-Carr and North Queensland regained possession.

Post-match, Moses admitted he was concerned from the kick.

"Right from the start, I go 'f--k we're in some strife here', I thought he put himself in a good position and then he just lost it I think, we just hung on," he told Nine's Brad Fittler.

Addo-Carr's blunder gave the Cowboys attacking territory and a try was given in the set despite Jeremiah Nanai clearly obstructing Moses.

The Bunker ruled it no try and gave the Eels a one-point win.

"He runs to the outside of my shoulder and I'm trying to get to the fullback," Moses continued.

"It was a penalty every day of the week."

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That wasn't the only incident addressed from Moses post-match.

At one stage when the Eels were attacking the line, new recruit Tallyn Da Silva went from dummy half on the last tackle and was held up.

Moses was captured giving him a passionate spray.

"That is a spray, literally," Andrew Johns said as spit came from Moses' mouth.

The halfback put it down to a new combination and said "he'll learn a lot of lessons from that".

"It's a good he gets to learn a lesson with a win not a loss ... he'll learn but, he's only a kid," he said.

The commentary around the obstruction call continued on into the press conferences.

Cowboys coach Todd Payten, who has previously worked with Moses at the Tigers, was asked directly about the call.

"I thought the on-field referee got it right. I've seen Mitchell dive over the years plenty of times," he replied.

Later, Payten was asked to clarify his comment and laughed and said it was "in jest".

"I always think about putting myself on the other side and I think it was the right call in the end," he said.

"I know Mitchell, he's cheeky, he's been doing it for a long time ... we just got the execution wrong on that play and that's the little details that can cost you."

Moses was told about the diving comment post-match and simply said "his back-rower ran the wrong line, maybe he should be talking to his back-rower".