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Let me start by saying that I’ve always been a Latrell Mitchell fan, and I believe he is one of the best footballers currently in the NRL.
No other player can emulate what he brings to the game. He has the destructive running power of a forward, silky passing skills, big-hitting defence, a genuine dislike for the opposition, great game vision, and can land goals from anywhere. In many ways, he’s the complete package.
He’s also a very polarising player, largely as a result of his own efforts, and a fascination with media attention.
We were told that the game would need to change, rather than Mitchell, in the light of his poor on-field discipline and high shots. Then he increased the wattage of his personal spotlight with his “Adam Goodes” booing comparison. He bought into the “milking” saga with his “Trellmilk” comments, and then described himself as the “entertainer”. All great material for the media, who will endlessly lap this stuff up, but “talking the talk” has certainly created a rod for his own back, and left a lot of people wondering whether Latrell can actually “walk the walk”?
Mitchell is allowing his own ego and self-confidence to set him up to fail. Maybe either his coach or manager need to suggest that he reins it in and just focuses on producing the goods on the field.
Dylan Edwards makes a break to score. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Despite Mitchell’s unique set of skills, I believe he is a very ordinary fullback, and one of the weakest links in the team. I won’t need to go any further than South’s capitulation to the Panthers on Saturday night to justify that statement. His mediocre performance was in stark contrast to that of his opponent and man of the match 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
• Making the effort on effort on effort plays
• On-line defence in his own red zone
• Organising the defence in front of him
• Taking the difficult high balls
• Bringing the ball off his own line
• Cover defending the edges
• Providing another attacking option around the ruck
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That’s a lot for just one player to accomplish, and it’s no wonder the top-shelf fullbacks demand big dollars, but not everyone is cut out to play there. The role these days requires the fullback to be the fittest man in the team as he is going to cover the most distance – with or without the ball – week in and week out. Without a fullback who can reach these KPI’s, no team is going to succeed for long.
In my view, Mitchell just isn’t fit enough for the demands of a fullback, and he knows it. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, he just doesn’t have the right body type for the role, the same as Tom Burgess was never considered for a stint on the wing.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Mitchell is 193 cm tall and lists his weight at 102 kgs, which is laughable, as he has to be way closer to 110 kgs. 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, or much longer if Ashley Klein is refereeing the game. Mitchell went missing for large parts of the game on Saturday night, and that’s just not good enough in the modern game.
But whatever his failings at fullback, Mitchell is probably the best centre in the game, and will most likely find himself there both for NSW and Australia in the future. I can’t really see a scenario where either Brad Fittler or Mal Meninga would hand Mitchell the number one jersey.
From a broader perspective, other than money, I just don’t understand the preference of the fullback position over the centre position, particularly if you’re just not that good in the number one jersey. Some of the best attacking players in the game in recent years have made the centre position their own.
If Souths persist in playing Mitchell out of his natural and best position next year, they risk turning one of their best assets into a liability, and missing walking the victory lap on grand-final day once again.
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