Sydney Roosters centre Latrell Mitchell has lost his fight at the judiciary on Tuesday evening, meaning he will miss next weekend’s preliminary final.
The Grade 1 charge for dangerous contact to the head and neck was upheld by the judiciary, meaning he will not be available to face the winner of the South Sydney Roosters and St George Illawarra Dragons, who play a semi-final this coming Saturday at Homebush.
The youngster was charged by the match review committee for an incident in the 42nd minute of the qualifying final against the Cronulla Sharks, when he committed a crusher tackle on Josh Dugan.
While the incident was originally overlooked by the referees on field as worthy of being reportable, it was picked during the review of the match on Sunday.
Mitchell’s suspension will remain at one week despite losing the charge at the juduciary. Without a risk of it being upgraded to two weeks, the Roosters’ decision to challenge was an obvious one.
Should the Bondi club win their preliminary final, Mitchell will be eligible for selection in the grand final, but his absence shapes as a huge loss, with Mitchell making his New South Wales Origin debut this year on the back of some superb form, and also carrying out goalkicking duties for the club.
The tackle has received comparisons to one from Storm centre Will Chambers. The Queensland and Australian representative was rubbed out for three weeks after he committed a similar tackle against the Parramatta Eels at the end of the NRL season.
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