New South Wales State of Origin hopeful Latrell Mitchell has been ruled out of the series decider after suffering a calf injury, stemming from a lingering back issue. The South Sydney Rabbitohs star was sidelined since round nine with a back problem but returned to training over the weekend, raising hopes he would be fit for Thursday night's clash against Parramatta and Origin III.
Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett confirmed on Tuesday that Mitchell's new calf injury, linked to his lower back, would sideline him for at least two weeks. “It’s coming from his lower back. It will be a couple of weeks. He was warming up this morning and he felt a bit of soreness there,” Bennett said.
Mitchell felt tightness in his calf during warm-ups at Souths' training session on Monday. He stretched and performed light drills before leaving the field with a trainer and undergoing scans. The 29-year-old centre had told Fox League on Sunday night he was “pushing” to play in round 17, pending recovery from the back injury.
Souths initially expected Mitchell to recover within a fortnight and be fit for the Origin series opener, but his recovery dragged on. He telephoned NSW coach Laurie Daley last month to rule himself out of game one. With Mitchell sidelined, Souths fullback Jye Gray described the injury as a major setback. “Devastating that he had to go off. You just want to see all your teammates get out on the field and not have these injury setbacks. But he will be back,” Gray said.
After NSW's heavy defeat in game two, the Blues would have been hopeful of recalling Mitchell, who has played 11 Origin games and is a walk-up starter when fit. Kotoni Staggs struggled in Origin II, while fellow centre Tolu Koula has only two games for NSW. Souths forward Lachlan Hubner said, “I think he probably goes back into that (NSW) side if he was fit.”
Several options remain for Blues selectors if they wish to change the centres. Canterbury's Stephen Crichton returned from a shoulder problem to kick a game-winning field goal against Manly. Bradman Best set up a try on his return from a calf injury in Newcastle's win over St George Illawarra. Penrith centre Casey McLean, ruled out of Origin II during camp, is considered unlikely to recover for this weekend's clash with North Queensland but could be fit for the decider.
