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The NRL’s hip drop drama has gone into overdrive with Latrell Mitchell binned in Souths’ 42-26 win over Parramatta – while Joe Ofahengaue was not for what looked like a very similar tackle.
It comes a night after Valentine Holmes was sat down for ten minutes in the Cowboys’ victory over the Wests Tigers for the same tackle but not banned, while David Klemmer escaped without sanction at the time but was slapped with a long ban the morning after.
Mitchell is theoretically available for Origin, though by no means likely to get picked given his indifferent form in 2024.
For what it’s worth, he was much better tonight with several key interventions and, ironically given injuries elsewhere in the Blues squad, ended up playing 6.
“All our players are available,” said interim coach Ben Hornby.
“If NSW want them, they’re there. I’m expecting Latrell and Cody (Walker) to make the team. They’re good enough players and they’ve shown before they should make the team.
“I know who I wouldn’t want to be playing against if I was playing.”
It might end up moot anyway after the hip drop incident, because much as these things are a crapshoot with the judiciary, it did look like Mitchell lost his feet and he landed cleanly on the back of Sean Russell’s legs and he has plenty of priors.
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The hip drops were just one of several storylines emerging from this unlikely spoonbowl which, while low on quality, was high on drama.
It was Parramatta’s first game following the sacking of Brad Arthur, leaving interim coach Barrett to face fellow caretaker and former Dragons teammate Hornby in the Souths box.
“We just made it too hard for ourselves to chase 22 points, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” said Barrett.
“We invited them into the games at the start with two unforced errors from our back five.”
Jack Wighton failed a HIA sustained in a head clash with teammate Jai Arrow – who passed – but is fortunate that Souths have the bye next weekend.
Alex Johnston got his 190th try in first grade, tying level with Billy Slater in second place on the all-time list behind Ken Irvine.
Keaon Koloamatangi, an incumbent NSW backrower no less, has barely been mentioned to retain his spot but put in his best performance of the season with two tries and a mountain of hard work that lifted him above most on ground, and Maika Sivo somehow managed a hat trick in between it all.
Souths had raced into a 22-0 lead, only for a defensive collapse, Mitchell’s sin bin and the dual HIAs to Arrow and Wighton to assist Parramatta in a comeback.
Not that they were going to get any sympathy: the Eels had undergone a similarly rotten run earlier in the game.
In the first 20 minutes, they barely left their own end and were 18-0 down, unable to take single trick.
Souths had enjoyed 16 sets to seven with 34 tackles in the opponent’s half to just one the other way. No team can defend that, let alone this Parramatta team.
When they tried a trap and scrap, the man picking it up was offside. They put in a decent short dropout, Maika Sivo dropped it cold.
Then again, the Eels were also masters of their downfall defensively.
Much as Souths had field position and possession, they hadn’t had to try enormously hard to score.
Arrow and Koloamatangi bashed their way through the notoriously weak Parramatta central defence. Dion Teaupa did it with footwork, dancing past a knackered scramble.
The attack finally clicked – three tries in – and Johnston added another. It looked done by the half hour mark.
Well, only if you’ve not seen these two play before.
Defence is not a strength for either – they have the worst line speeds in the comp – and almost any lead is retrievable when the momentum changes.
It duly did: Blaize Talagi got one on the right that was softer than soft before Sivo showed the positive side of his game to get Russell in.
Harper’s try made it yet closer, but before Mitchell returned, Souths would edge a little further away with a penalty goal.
Sean Keppie got his first in Souths colours to make the score look safer, but Sivo struck back again for Parramatta.
With the Bunnies patched up, it was their stars, albeit in unusual configuration, who settled it.
Mitchell moved into five eighth to cover Wighton with Damien Cook to centre – it must be Origin time again – and it was the former to dab a kick through for the latter to finally put the matter beyond doubt.