If you carve up the entire NRL playing talent, there’s probably less than 10 per cent who truly make a difference to their team’s chances of winning and losing when they’re on the field.
Latrell Mitchell is undoubtedly one of those elite talents who not only lifts South Sydney’s likelihood of victory on the field but makes everyone else around him better.
Calling a player a star is one of the most overused terms in the NRL and it is totally subjective.
To meet that criteria does a player have to be one of the best of the best in their position or someone who has established themselves in rep footy or can it apply to those who might not fill either of these requirements but are crucial to their club’s prospects.
Of the 469 players who have been used across the opening 22 rounds of the season, around 150 have played less than 10 games, aka fringe first-graders.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Among the rest, there are a lot of solid first-graders who fill their role but, not to diminish their importance, their team’s chances don’t rise or fall too greatly based on their performance.
Whatever your benchmark for what constitutes a star in the NRL, the 26-year-old who will wear the No.1 jersey for the Rabbitohs against Cronulla in Perth on Saturday night meets all the benchmarks.
None of this is breaking news but what is important to note is his impact on the Bunnies as they try to mount one of their trademark late-season charges in pursuit of the famous club’s 22nd premiership.
Souths are again on the outside of the top four looking in as the competition hurtles towards the finals with only four rounds left after this one.
Due to a combination of Mitchell’s nagging calf injury, the burden that comes with Origin and a few tight losses where they, Souths are sixth with an 11-9 record
The upside for them is that their remaining draw – the swiftly sinking Sharks, St George Illawarra, Newcastle, the bye and the Roosters – contains opponents all lower than them on the ladder.
But they still have to leapfrog the Raiders, who are one win ahead, and the Storm or the Warriors, a further two points away, over the final month of the season to assure themselves of an all-important top-four berth.
Mitchell was heavily involved in his return last Friday from more than two months out with his calf problem, which went from ruling him out of Origin I to the entire series and a couple more NRL rounds to boot.
He got through the entire 80 minutes, with some extra help from the physio keeping his troublesome calf warm through nearly the entire half-time break, making 171 metres and 11 tackle breaks, which was more than double any teammate, in the 32-18 triumph over the Tigers in Tamworth.
Souths coach Jason Demetriou made the surprising admission that Mitchell could have returned a couple of weeks earlier but they wanted to ensure he was back to peak fitness before returning.
That decision led to the short-term pain of a 36-20 loss to Brisbane a fortnight ago but if it means he is able to get through the rest of the season without any further injury problems, the gamble will be worth it long term.
Since he joined the club in controversial circumstances after an acrimonious split with the Roosters after back-to-back premierships, Mitchell’s influence at the Bunnies has been monumental.
They have won 44 of the 63 matches he has played in the cardinal and myrtle at a tick under 70% but when he’s been sidelined through injury, suspension or representative duty, their record plummets to 19-17 at a 52.78% clip.
His impact on their fortunes is similar but not quite as drastic as Manly’s reliance on Tom Trbojevic in recent years – the Sea Eagles are 36-18 when he’s played in the past five years but 16-41-1 when he’s been absent.
The Trell Factor
| Rabbitohs’ record | Record with Latrell | Record without Latrell | |
| 2020 | 14-9 | 10-4 | 4-5 |
| 2021 | 22-5 | 14-3 | 8-2 |
| 2022 | 16-11 | 11-6 | 5-5 |
| 2023 | 11-9 | 9-4 | 2-5 |
| Overall | 63-34 (64.9%) | 44-17 (69.9%) | 19-17 (52.8%) |
Souths are an anomaly in the NRL in that their halfback, Lachlan Ilias, is an important part of their side but they don’t rely on him nearly as much as other teams do on their No.7.
Cody Walker splits the playmaking duties pretty much 50-50 with Ilias while Rabbitohs captain Cameron Murray (25 touches per game) is one of the NRL’s most hands-on locks with Penrith’s Isaah Yeo, Roosters firebrand Victor Radley and Tohu Harris his only peers who average more possessions.
When the Rabbitohs have Mitchell, Murray, Walker and hooker Damien Cook on the field, they have gone 38-13 over the past four seasons, an elite winning percentage of 74.5%.
Even though Penrith have still exceeded that high watermark in the same timeframe, winning an astounding 83.3% during their golden run, it shows that Souths have the potential to bring down the Panthers if they lock horns in the playoffs.
Demetriou on Friday at his captain’s run media conference in Perth said what you’d expect about being wary of the Sharks even though they’ve lost three straight and added that he expected Mitchell would be better for the run after blowing off the cobwebs last week.
“We made the decision to leave him out of the Broncos game to make sure that that was safe for him and making sure that we’re getting him in the big games that we need him in, and that’s tomorrow night,” he said.
Latrell Mitchell greets fans after South Sydney’s win in Tamworth. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)
When asked about Phil Gould’s contentious comments earlier in the week that Mitchell was supposedly yet to deliver “on the big stage”, it was water off a duck’s back to Demetriou.
“(They were) interesting, Phil can say what he wants. That’s what he’s paid to do, give opinions on other teams but we know what Latrell can do. I love having him at the club, I love coaching him and I know the players know what he’s capable of.
“We are excited to have him back and the only way to answer critics is out there on the field, get through these next few weeks and then perform on the big stage at the back end of the year.
“I think he finds it disappointing that in his first game back someone’s saying those sort of things but he’s a superstar of the game and he understand that that comes with having critics at some times.”
Now how many superstars are in the NRL, a level above your stock-standard stars, that’s an even tougher debate.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
Yeah Lazy Latrell does it again - wild passes ,woeful line drop outs.South’s are going no where with his rocks n diamonds efforts.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Roosters have lost a few… these are only major players and doesn’t include turnover of squad players 2023 - Taukeiaho, Lodge, Verrills 2022 - Liu, Ikuvalu, Friend, Morris, Morris 2021 - Cordner, SBW, Aubusson, Hall, Flanagan 2020 - Latrell, Tetevano, Cronk Roosters only have 8 left from the 2019 premiership…similar numbers to Storm and Panthers. I’d suggest the Roosters have lost more big money, top end of the roster players than Storm or Panthers I don’t get the differentiation of losing players to other clubs vs retiring. If you have enough top end roster players retiring, you’re better equipped to retain the players left. It would be weird to have top end players retiring AND losing them to other clubs
Cam
Roar Rookie
Storm have 6 players left from that same match. That's the NRL trying to level out the comp.
Slammin_Sam
Roar Rookie
Well this article aged well....
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Penrith will have 8 players from the 2020 squad left. That will be 7 , if Luai leaves.
Cam
Roar Rookie
All successful clubs have to turn players over, the last couple of years Souths have lost Reynolds, Gagai, Jaydn Su'A, Storm lost Addo-Carr, the Bromwich brothers, Kaufusi, Brandon Smith. Panthers have lost a heap. The Roosters don't lose too many, other than retiring players and Latrell seems to be the only players they have lost to a rival club over the past 4 or 5 years. There might be something in that?
Rellum
Roar Guru
The sombrero will come out in full force this off season and before. Luai I think is a great chance to go to the Roosters. Haas maybe as well. The Roosters and going to let a lot of players go and go out and try and buy another title. That is my guess
The Barry
Roar Guru
If we’re looking at rosters… the Panthers have a much better roster than the Roosters, it would be valued higher and they’ve dominated like no team has in 40 years or more
The Barry
Roar Guru
Duplicate
Panthers
Roar Rookie
That’s what you think & that’s fine. Many supporters of many other clubs can see the difference. The ‘Sombrero’ comments don’t come from everyone viewing player lists & players bought by different clubs & thinking that all is even. When a sponsor responds to a question about buying a player with, ‘We will do anything that’s necessary, to get the player here’. That’s not inspiring confidence in the salary cap system. There’s many ways around the cap for those with extra money to spend . Sponsors employing players & paying them appearance money, is one way . It’s all good , as long as the NRL approves it. Lots of ways…Doesn’t mean that they are available to every club.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Everyone points to the Roosters but rarely mention the quality and quantity of players they’ve let go over the last 5-6 years The Panthers have as many big name, big money players on their books as the Roosters do
The Barry
Roar Guru
Penrith don’t buy top players because they don’t have to You seem to think there’s a difference between signing a player from another club for 800K vs re-signing one of your own players for 800K. There’s not Bulldogs aren’t throwing more money around Off the top of my head that signed players like Napa, Thompson, Foran, Woods, DWZ, Hopoate on big money (800K+) deals before Laundy got involved Hopefully they’re spending their money a bit smarter now, but they’re not spending more The Panthers have spent just as much on signing players as the Bulldogs have… they’re just re-signing their own players on big money instead of outsiders on big money
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Look at the difference to Bulldogs buying, before & after Laundy etc. Look at the difference in money put in, recruitment at a junior level. Massive difference. Penrith aren’t buying any top players whatsoever . They just lose players that they have , or even brung through their juniors system. There’s a big difference in the quality of players that clubs can buy . How much are the Roosters first grade team worth? Yet, can keep all they want to keep & upgrade on those lesser players leaving. Any Crichton’s going to Penrith, How about Burton’s or Kikau’s, Mahoney’s , Leniu’s , Young’s , Wighton’s perhaps. Doesn’t stop there.. That’s not having a go at your club in particular. It’s just looking at the buying that occurs. Clearly everything isn’t even.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Well the Bunnies were the worst and didn't handle it! But its not only Mitchell that the Bunnies need to step up, they all need to be fair dinkum, you can’t have one player running the show and if he’s not there the whole side collapses, that is just ridiculous! As we need the Bunnies to be like they were (they have the talent if they apply themselves) like the Bunnies did from R6 to 11 when they beat the Panthers, Storm, Broncos which is the top 4, as we beat the Warriors later. But the Bunnies just went to a ridiculous level which is NOT on for a top rated side like they did from R12 to R20 as in those games they weren’t even NRL standard. The real goers like your mob the Panthers DON’T DO THAT as they have a go every game whoever they have in the team and want to WIN. That is the difference between the Panthers (no matter how much everyone knocks them or is jealous of them) is that the Panthers HAVE A REAL GO and it was proven last night how their defence scrambles for everything and how much superior their game plan is compared to the rest. Can't see any other team beating them as you might as well give them the NRL Provan/Summons Trophy now as there is no one that can beat them.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I don’t understand what point you’re trying to make Penrith should be allowed to have 17 players on 750K a season plus in their squad? Cleary’s on (a rumoured) 1.4M a season. Who do the Bulldogs or Souths or even the Roosters have on that sort of coin…? Fish is on 950. Martin 750. Luai 700 and possibly an upgrade coming. Edwards will be in the 800k range. To’o just got a new contract and a big upgrade. So did Leota. So did Sorensen. May, Tago, Turuva and Smith all signed extensions last year Of course they can’t keep everyone who gets valued in that 750-800K range Panthers have as many big money players on their books as everyone else. “Sponsors” has nothing to do with it
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Independent sponsors, can assist in many , many ways. Lots of different advantageous packages are available to players through them. The ability to buy & retain top line juniors, that aren’t in first grade through sponsors. Is also an advantage. Are you trying to tell me that South’s didn’t improve by 1000% , with player talent . After they received major sponsorships , including independent sponsors? Roosters buying a plenty , again… Take a look at the Bulldogs buying. No need to say anymore.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
How are sponsors helping South's?? As far as I know no third party details have been released for a few years. If you go back to the years they were made public, only one club was massively advantaged and it wasn't South's. ( Look to Mexico ). Now this is conjecture but I don't think it would have changed much.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Mitchell is one of the stars of the game. Clubs with the biggest money , sponsors, independent sponsors, are lucky to be able to recruit & keep such players. Who would beat Penrith this season, if Penrith had the same sponsors & were able to retain: Burton, Kikua, Korisau, Capewell , Hopgood etc, etc…?
Tetley
Roar Rookie
Losing Trell hurts Souths, but they haven't exactly knuckled down in defence like they did at the start of the year. That's why they've been losing games. They thought they could beat teams in shoot-outs. Not sure if that is related to Trell - I guess he could be a key driver of the attitude required for a committed, 80-minute defensive effort. But if Souths really do need Trell to win, it's pretty disappointing when you look at the club's depth.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Your clubs not the only club to suffer during SOO. Doesn’t really affect Mitchell though. As he’s rarely available for any representative games, not only SOO. :stoked: