Latrell the Rabbitoh

The question that needs to be asked is why Mitchell is only on a 1 year contract with and option in Souths favour for a 2nd with a list of KPI's attached? Obviously someone senior at Souths thinks his signing is a gamble. And just as obvious is will he have the aerobic fitness to play fullback? The young man was devastating at left centre for the Roosters with Keary inside him and Tupou outside. But after nearly all his runs, and there were many, you would see him blowing pretty hard or swapping positions with Tupou. He can't do that at fullback as there is nowhere to hide. The former great coach has said he is happy with Burns and Roberts as centres. And what of Doueihi? The word is he is close to signing with the Tigers, but Souths are playing hardball, which explains what I have heard that there are some at Souths who want to keep him as cover for Mitchell, if his experiment at fullback doesn't work out.

Papi, the problem is all about location and being able to field junior teams . The demographics of modern Sydney have isolated Easts whereas under the old district rules that were in place when we were kids & teens gives Souths a huge advantage as far as junior teams go, a fact of life. I think that the traditional rivalry between Souths & Easts is actually good for the game for having done most of my teen years in Melbourne belive me I understand footy passion. You follow a club for life in Melbourne and generally the club your parents followed and heaven help anyone who defects. I like Issac Luke as a player he always seems to give 100% even having a bad day. However Ryan Hall was a surprise, he either has a BA or a Doctorate in Applied mathamatics.......the bloke does have a genius IQ. He could be teaching mathamatics but prefers to play Rugby Leage but I guess he will not have an issue empolyment after his foory days are over .

the thing that gets me is that Mitchell was all about securing the future for his family.Now he had a year to go at $550 K and put pen to paper 3 more at $800 K + representative money in excess of $3.5 million worth of security. Now what has he got. For 7 years Politis and the Roosters team have nurtured Latrell and bent over backwards to keep the kid happy and to be honest I am flummoxed at where this all went and how it got there . Mitrchell may be putting on a brave face about the move to Souths but deep down I reckon he knows he has let too many people piss in his pocket and it all turned sour. As for him playing full back at Souths well good luck with that because the expectations for him to deliver after all this drama are pretty high.

Latrell sure is a Rabbit !

I've also seen Issac Luke on TV solve the rubik’s cube problem in less than a minute and believe me, "Bul)y" is NO genius! Btw ND, there's nothing wrong with having one eye as long as you can see clearly. Some people have two eyes and still can't see the truth when it's standing right in front of them. ;-)

Your comment about what we did back then before DUI is so true. however we never had high powered cars and there were far less on the road and our national population was about one quarter of what it is to-day. I would be the first to put my hand up in that regard. However since the advent of RBTI have a firm rule that I do not drink & drive. However, how we survived those days is a wonder .....

John , that is incorrect ......where did you get that "his immediate response was" because it is bull. Despite the fact I am a Roosters supporter I belive I try my best to keep things in perspective. Fact: Greg Inglis spent the night in a Motel in GULGONG. That is where the team he was palying with are based. Fact: He travelled from Dubbo to Gulgong by bus and it was a dry tournament and he had not had a drink. Fact: Greg, along with his team mates celrated at the local Gulgong hotel that night and when he got the phone call about the Australian team and the Captaincy the celebrations went much longer than initially planned. Fact: Ingliss was pretty intoxicated when he arrived back at the motel where he had minimal sleep and very little to eat before getting behind the wheel of his Merc with a Nephew and a cousin in the car with him. Fact: I know that road like the back of my hand so I know that to be where he was from the time he left Gulgong he was pushing the speed limit. He was very lucky he was not stopped in Mudgee as it would have been high range DUI. Notwithstanding, Ingliss was dealt with by the courts and has paid a pretty big penalty. all this mud slinging has become a bit teduious and yes Pappy can over do the "One eyed" thing too however rumour and inuendo is not fact and we should stick to the facts on both sides of the great Eastern divide...

Noosa, I think he's between a rock and a hard place. He already has a premiership so if playing fullback is his motivation he obviously needed to go to another club. From reports he initially knocked back South's and then "enter the dragon " James Packer has appeared . God only knows what deal was done to get this over the line.

Paul,beginning to think with Mitchell it is all about the "Limelight", he wants the glamour jobs without doing the hard yards to getn there. Did Tedesco dislike the Tigers, no he did not. However they were going nowhere and I believe that the Raiders offer was better financially than what he took at the Roosters. As Tedesco stated, I have made this decision because I want to play for a club that has a chance of winning a premiership and that Club is the Roostes. Within a short period of time because of his focus & determination Tedesco has become one of if not the best player in the NRL and has already created a huge legacy in the game & his club. Now does Mitchell have the ability to be a full back as good as Tedesco, well , I would have to say yes. Nothwithstanding I have my doubts that he has anywhere near the " focus" of a Tedesco which is essential for the job

actually, Ryan Hall the Englishman at the Roosters may be able to help Latrell with that rubik's cube problem, for Ryan actuallyn holds that particular world record. The Bloke also has adegree in applied mathamatics

How well Mitchell goes at Souths depends on him and how he feels with the team. Trying to know something that has not happened yet is the domain of Nostradamus. The best guess i suspect is he will do what he has always done. Given souths talent and and coach and support staff it is reasonable to assume Souths to be at least in the eight again. Mitchell will need to work a bit harder but who knows he might just turn into a monster player if he is not already. Then again playing with his mates might just make all of them focus more on fun rather than success. These are the risks with any team. Pulling out players from any team and throwing their indiscretions both on and off the field and using these indiscretions as some culture within a club is both spurious and inane. There are players and sometimes coaches and administrators from all clubs that do things that are unsavoury at least and criminal at worst. This is part of life. People make errors of judgement. Regardless, Both Easts and Souths should be at the business end of the 2020 season. Aboriginal culture does play a big part in how indigenous players can motivate and perform. I also understand non indigenous people use aboriginal terms and mis appropriate the use of the terms, both as an insults and as a general throwaway term that has been widely used in the past with no real harm intended. This taking this piss out of each other can be both widely understood as fun and banter but can be easily mis understood as insulting and hurtful. Context is everything. Disagreeing is ok, disrespecting is something else.

Latrell is indeed a rare talent, but it remains to be seen how he adapts to playing at Souths. a lot of forward experience went out the door with the "retirement" of s.Burgess,the retirement of Sutton and the exit of George Burgess Mitchell will find it much harder playing behind a weaker pack well at least Mitchell has been able to provide a text book example of WHAT NOT TO DO when negotiating a new contract....

Fair enough steve - the bloke has tremendous talent and his only real weakness appears to be he loses concentration at times. The talent is there he just needs to use it. Has LM played much full back in the juniors? He'll need to get through a lot of defensive work on top of finishing off plays. He'll need to be really fit to handle the work load. To be honest I think he's more suited to the centres where he can be creative but he could be a just as damaging and possibly more at full back. I think the whole rugby league world is fascinated to see how he goes with Souths.

Geoff, given my history here of stirring the pot I don't try to claim the moral high ground or wish to engage in "virtue signaling". I simply point out this may not be an entirely appropriate expression to accuse an indigenous Australian of slacking of and going missing. As you say, "Going walkabout is a colloquial term used to describe losing concentration or focus". But this is a "colloquial term" that has been misappropriated from the indigenous Australian culture for cynical affect and is largely used out of it's correct context exclusively by non-indigenous Australians without regard for it's true cultural significance. When used in a disparaging manner against indigenous Australians we need to be sensitive to the fact that it is inappropriate to do so. I'm sure you don't intend to offend anyone and as I am non-indigenous myself I don't claim to be offended. I just suggest we should tread carefully, that's all.

And why did they direct it down their left? Because it was more effective. And why did they switch? Because teams defensively focused on their left side.

Becuase The Roosters directed their attack down their left edge all season and swithched to the right in the finals where they destroyed souths on their way back to back comps, and Latrell didnt score a try

Geoff, it might be true that LM was doing that at the Chooks but, he wont be doing that at the Bunnies. LM never wanted to be in the centres and probably had a few internal issues with that. especially when Tedesco was hired but and by gee, he did pretty well in the centres and at kicking goals. Lets not forget that LM was and is still is a kid (22) for gods sake, the bloke (as he said) is at the Bunnies to turn his career around, he has different priorities etc etc lets give him a chance! Walkabout, goes missing, losing concentration or focus or whatever, lets give the bloke a chance and not do the usual and as always that is typical in the NRL, which is to blindly criticise, moan and have a go!

I’m with you . I think Cronk will be missed more than LM , but I think they won’t skip a beat without either. Three peat coming up.

Shouldn’t you be at a Greens pow wow ?

I'm over Mitchellmania . Can we talk about something else.