They call him George of the Jungle, and on this occasion he lived up to the hype.
From the outset of this tournament, the Blues set the pace but they were forced to come from behind and scrap for everything in the final against the Hurricanes.
Down 7-0 at half time, Akira Ioane brought the Blues within two points with a lineout try but it needed a desperate Sam Nock tackle on opposite Jamie Booth with one minute remaining to give his side a shot at glory.
From a penalty, the Blues went blindside to find Moala. The former All Blacks midfielder was brought down short, released the ball, and got up to score the match-winner. It was no mean feat.
Immediately, the Blues celebrated; players rushing from the sideline. So they should after emerging undefeated from five matches.
In the absence of regular stars young halfback Nock, Ioane, Melani Nanai and Caleb Clarke, the son of former All Blacks midfielder Eroni, who finished as top try scorer with five, stepped up for the Blues.
Clarke's success was capped by his being named player of the tournament.
The Blues have had little to celebrate in recent years but Tana Umaga's men grew in confidence as the tournament progressed and deserved their victory, one they will now look to build on in Super Rugby.
"We'll take any win at the minute, especially with the group we had over here. It was really young," Umaga said.
"Some had been with us two months some had been with us two weeks but they showed some real resilience to come together.
"The result is great but some of the off-field stuff and learning to follow through and win those critical moments was really pleasing for us this weekend."
Thrashed 22-0 by the Crusaders in their opening match, the Hurricanes did well just to make the finale but will be disappointed to let the title slip through their grasp.
Fielding a young and inexperienced team led by Julian Savea, the Hurricanes came into day two the least fancied New Zealand team.
The Crusaders, Chiefs and Blues all started the day unbeaten. The Hurricanes brought defensive pressure and breakdown aggression more than any attacking brilliance to the final - but it almost worked.
Big tighthead prop Alex Fidow led the charge throughout the tournament, scoring the opening try from a crafty lineout move.
Whether it is scrummaging, tackling, carrying the ball in one hand on the edge or offloading, the 20-year-old prospect showed all the skills.
Fidow will only mature more after starring as one of Wellington's 'bruise brothers' alongside rookie All Blacks hooker Asafo Aumua.
Fidow's blond top is certainly hard to miss.
Livewire halfbacks Booth and Finlay Christie were other unheralded characters to step up for the Hurricanes.
The Chiefs, last year's champions, had rights to feel aggrieved after being dudded by two controversial calls in their knockout loss to the Reds.
The home side only made the knockout rounds on points' differential, with one win from three games, and benefited greatly from the officials.
With the match locked 7-7 at half time, the Reds scored two controversial tries – the first given by the television match official when it looked like the ball had been lost.
The second was much worse. Despite Angus Blyth's boot clearly touching the sideline after tackles from Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and Mitch Karpik, officials decided not to check the footage, instead awarding the try.
The Reds win over Chiefs was the first Australian victory against a Kiwi team here, and astonishingly the first since the Rebels beat the Chiefs in last year's opening Tens match.
After looking out of their depth on day one, Conrad Smith's French club Pau pulled off the upset of the tournament by dumping out the Highlanders.
