Latrell Mitchell wins NSW spot in the centres for Origin II

Latrell Mitchell is set to earn a recall to the NSW side for game two next Wednesday, convincing coach Michael Maguire he is ready to take on Queensland at the MCG.

According to sources not permitted to speak publicly, Mitchell will later today be named in the centres to take on the Maroons. It will be his first game for the Blues since 2021.

In an interview with the Herald on Sunday, the South Sydney No.1 spoke about his eagerness to get back into the Origin arena.

“I’m ready. I’m keen,” Mitchell told this masthead. “If Madge [Maguire] wants me, I’m in. I’m ready to go to Melbourne and give it to some Queenslanders.”

Mitchell is the first of up to four changes Maguire will make from game one, bringing the South Sydney fullback in as a replacement for the suspended Joseph Suaalii.

The other potential move is at halfback, with Mitchell Moses the frontrunner to replace Nicho Hynes in the No.7 jersey.

Sydney Roosters utility Connor Watson is being considered as a replacement for Hudson Young on the bench, while fullback Dylan Edwards will have to get through today’s game against Manly before he can make his debut following his late scratching before game one due to injury.

His replacement, former NSW skipper James Tedesco, endorsed Edwards’ return to the Blues side when speaking after the Roosters’ win over the Eels on Saturday night.

“If Dyl’s fit and can play I think he’ll go back in, so that’s how I see it but who knows really,” Tedesco said. “It showed in the first camp anything can happen, so we’ll see.”

Mitchell sat next to Maguire at the South Sydney 2014 premiership reunion on Saturday afternoon.

Latrell Mitchell.

Mitchell told Souths officials last month that he was considering withdrawing from Origin contention.

His chief concern was a belief he had been singled out for criticism by the state in previous campaigns. Mitchell was unsure whether he wanted to put himself back in that spotlight.

But after an impressive month of football, culminating in a convincing win over the Brisbane Broncos on Friday night, the Rabbitohs No.1 is ready to re-enter the Origin furnace.

“I wasn’t in the right headspace before game one,” he said. “At the same time, I was probably a bit filthy I didn’t get picked, to be honest. I was playing god there for a little bit. I didn’t know what I wanted. I played with fire a little bit. The doubt was there. I was scared about being thrown under the bus again. But now I know where I stand as a player. I’m ready to go if I get picked. I won’t let the state down.

“I just feel like I want people to protect me if shit hits the fan. That’s what I think Madge will do. I just felt like before, I was always the scapegoat. That it was just easier to go against me than with me. That’s why the doubt came back and I thought, ‘I don’t want to play, I don’t want to play’.

“There’s so much bullshit about me and Origin when all I’ve ever done is win for Origin. I’ve given everything to NSW, the badge and the name on my back – my family. Not having that protection after, when shit hits the fan, that’s where the doubt crept in about going back and playing representative footy.”

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