You don’t need me to tell you that Latrell Mitchell is one of the most polarising players in the game.
Souths fans love him and in their eyes he can do no wrong, while many fans of other clubs don’t like his arrogance or aggression, particularly after the Joseph Manu incident late last year.
Whichever side of the Mitchell fence you sit on, though, you can’t deny his freakish ability.
You only need to cast your mind back as far as Origin 1 and 2 last year where he dominated the opposition, and every NSW supporter was suddenly a staunch Mitchell fan, while the Queensland brigade just had to look away as he destroyed the Maroons.
Put simply, no other player can emulate what he brings to the game – the destructive running power of a forward, the silky passing skills of a back, big-hitting defence, a mix of arrogance and self-belief, speed and footwork, the ability to break tackles seemingly at will, goal kicking, the long-range field goal, and great game vision.
In many ways, he’s the complete footballing package.
The problem for me, though, is that Mitchell is just not a very good fullback, and this was highlighted for all to see in Souths’ loss to Penrith on Friday night. His mediocre performance was in stark contrast to that of his opponent Dylan Edwards, who excelled in all of the key roles for the modern fullback, including:
• Making the extra man in the back line in attack
• On-line defence in his own red zone
• Organising the defence in front of him
• Taking the increasingly difficult high balls
• Bringing the ball off his own line
• Cover defending the edges
• Providing another attacking option around the ruck
That’s a lot on just one player’s plate, and no wonder the top-shelf fullbacks demand big dollars. The role these days requires that the No.1 be the fittest man in the team as he is going to cover the most distance, whether with or without the ball, week in and week out.
Mitchell just isn’t fit enough for the demands of the fullback role. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that, he just doesn’t have the right body type for the role, the same as George Rose was never considered for a stint on the wing.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Mitchell is 193 centimetres tall and lists his weight at 102 kilograms, which is laughable, as he has to be way closer to 110 than 100. He’s a big, powerful man, but he has neither the acceleration nor the aerobic fitness to play fullback for 80 minutes, and it’s an 80-minute assignment.
But whatever his failings at fullback, Mitchell is probably the best centre in the game, and will probably find himself there both for NSW and Australia later in the year. I can’t really see a scenario where either Brad Fittler or Mal Meninga would hand Mitchell the No.1 jersey.
Mitchell looked disappointed with his own efforts at times on Friday night and his head went down on more than one occasion. He’s a player who thrives on confidence, and the more he plays at the back, the more danger there is that he’ll lose some of that swagger as time goes on.
Jason Demetriou was himself a former centre, so he should be able to identify Mitchell’s best role, not only for himself, but also the team. I believe that Mitchell should be at left centre alongside Cody Walker and Alex Johnston, and Blake Taaffe at the back.
From a broader perspective, I just don’t understand the preference of the fullback position over the centre position. Some of the best attacking players in the game in recent years have made the centre position their own, including Josh Morris and Joseph Manu from the Roosters, Souths Dane Gagai, Justin Olam from the Storm, Bradman Best from Newcastle, and Stephen Crichton and Matt Burton from Penrith.
If Souths persist in playing Mitchell out of his natural and best position, they risk turning one of their best assets into a liability.
Tony
Roar Guru
Yes, it's a word, and no doubt it has been used to describe your behaviour.
William W
Roar Rookie
You are the one with a lack of English language skills. Perhaps you should look up the meaning of the word.
Tony
Roar Guru
You probably need to look up the meaning of "cad"
William W
Roar Rookie
You are such a cad.
Tony
Roar Guru
Yes....your post was extremely poor, but no need to tell us in advance, we'd work it out by ourselves.
Tony
Roar Guru
What are you talking about
William W
Roar Rookie
I just bet LM shows up your pathetic nobody at Fullback this Saturday.
William W
Roar Rookie
This is an extremely Poor Post. How have the Rabbitohs left Mitchell "Out to Dry"? I will tell you all this, Blake Taaffe is way too small for fullback and Alex Johnston is a far better winger/finisher, so who the hell are you going to put at the back? Mitchell is a far better Fullback than the majority of other fullbacks at other clubs. I am sure there are plenty of fans who would want LM in their team. The real issue is many faceless typers on this website and on many others have short bloody memories. Last season before his suspension Mitchell was the talk of the town setting up and scoring tries at will. Just get over what happened last season. I think in defence he is going in a tad slower so as to not have a repeat of last season. That is all...
Rik Wallin
Guest
Fifteen of the sixteen fullbacks in the NRL are not the best fullback. Only two will play fullback in Origin and only one will be picked for Australia at the end of the season, and that’s likely to be Teddy. That means that at this stage you’d probably expect at least two other fullbacks will be selected out of their favored position at the back. Coincidentally, two fullbacks will likely be selected as centres - Tommy and Trell. Done may argue about that, but you can’t say they’re a controversial selection. So to criticize Trell on the basis that he won’t be picked at fullback, but at centre is in my opinion a bit off.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
give me a bloke who busts his balls every time
Tony
Guest
I don’t think that’s the case because as far as I know he’s only on about $800k when the tigers offered him over $1m to play whoever the hell he wanted so I don’t think it’s about the money as such
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Same here Tony. Latrell is clearly better suited to left centre and can be given a roving commission, like Turbo was in Origin, to play on both sides of the field. Taaffe, though lacking x-factor is a safer, more consistent option at FB and he is still developing in the FB role. But he handled the pressure very well last year for a young rookie and he is always giving 100% on both sides of the ball. Unlike Mr. Money Bags.
Tony
Roar Guru
GB, I'm doing my best to advise these struggling coaches, but my time is limited.
Tony
Roar Guru
Spot on
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately, Latrell "show me the money" Mitchell's main motivation in moving to FB was for the bigger paycheck that goes with it. If he can earn the same money playing at left centre to do half the work I think he will be more than happy to switch positions. It will be about how JD manages to spin a positional change so Latrell won't lose face. With Blake Taaffe coming off the bench this week he will be able to cover both FB and HB. So if Ilias is struggling I expect him to fit into the halves. Otherwise, Latrell might get moved to left centre to accommodate Taaffe.
JennyFromPenny
Guest
Wow wouldn't that be a good game, Edwards v Edwards.
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
Tony, It’s impossible to say whether or not Souths would have won. However, I believe: A] the 2021 Souths team with Latrell was better than the team without Latrell B] the 2021 Souths team with Latrell playing Left Centre would have been better than the team with him playing Full Back. C] If… he hadn’t slugged Joey Manu and If… he had played the GF at Left Centre then … maybe the result would have been different. That is all we can say, for 2021. What we can say for 2022 is that the new coach has an opportunity to get better performances out of Latrell by changing where in the team he plays.
Max
Roar Rookie
Yep. He’s a 6!
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Works at origin. Queensland did it with GI. NSW do it with Turbo and Latrell. Seems to be working. Just ask Will Chambers.
JennyFromPenny
Guest
The kid got a $1000 fine. Close to, if not, the minimum penalty available. Guessing another one of those times where you were right, and everyone else was wrong.