2 days Ago By Michael Chammas
In the days leading up to the NSW team selection for Origin II, Latrell Mitchell popped into Michael Maguire’s home following a South Sydney training session. He’d been dodging the Blues coach for the best part of a month. Why he was being so elusive with the NSW coach is a question even Mitchell struggles to find an answer for.
He’ll tell you there was a feeling he couldn’t shake. An unease about re-entering the Blues fold, whether his form warranted selection or not, based off prior experiences that left him feeling like NSW didn’t have his back when “shit hit the fan”. A “scapegoat”, as he put it.
So Mitchell, contemplating his Origin availability amid pressure from South Sydney fans and general rugby league pundits wanting him to focus on his club side, let a few calls from ‘Madge’ go through to the keeper. “I was playing God,” Mitchell admitted in a recent interview with this masthead. He wanted to play for NSW, but didn’t want to miss out on selection.
Yet at the same time was happy to miss out on selection, because he was unsure if the environment would trigger a relapse in his constant battle to find clarity in his own mind. Latrell Mitchell once again proved he belongs at the highest level. Credit: Getty Images Watching game one from the comfort of his lounge room, he found that clarity.
“It just gave me a bit of fire,” Mitchell said in the MCG dressing rooms in the aftermath of NSW’s 38-18 demolition of Queensland. “I thought ‘I.
