It was only three weeks ago that Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou urged Latrell Mitchell to get more involved in the game — and superstar fullback did exactly that in the first half of Thursday’s clash with the Panthers.
South Sydney scored first points when Damien Cook burrowed over from dummy-half in the 19th minute. But it came off the back of a flick pass from Mitchell to speedy winger Alex Johnston.
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Expert analyst Michael Ennis called it “stunning,” while Fox League commentator Andrew Voss declared it “is one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
The Bunnies marched their way down the field with the help of a set restart and a fired-up Cook planted the ball down under the posts.
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“He is reaping the rewards of this superstar fullback who just changed the game on a dime, just completely changed the whole concept of the game,” Ennis said.
“As the Panthers were grafting and grinding and starting to get over the top of South Sydney, it was the (Zac) Hosking error and in the blink of an eye it was Latrell Mitchell that turned this game on its head with a miraculous flick pass.”
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It was one of Mitchell’s busiest first halves this season with the 25-year-old taking nine runs for 44 metres and getting five tackle busts as well as three offloads.
“We spoke about Latrell’s involvement, we wanted to see him do something early and make a statement — and he did that,” Fox League’s Greg Alexander said.
It comes after Demetriou said Mitchell “probably needs to find his way into the game a bit earlier” after the Rabbitohs’ slow start came back to bite them in a Round 5 loss to the Storm.
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He took just three runs for 26 metres in the first half of that game.
“Look it is definitely something to work on. Everyone has got something to work on and I think instead of chasing our tails in the back end we should be starting the game earlier,” Mitchell said the following week.
“And for me personally I know I need to get my hands on the ball a bit more earlier and get in the game and flip the mentality.”
