All eyes were on Latrell Mitchell at a dreary SCG on Sunday afternoon.
Before kick-off, word was the star Roosters centre would not be on a flight to Perth come Monday.
Not enough: Latrell Mitchell scored a double against the Bulldogs but has been cut from the NSW side.Credit:AAP
There would have been raucous laughter at any pub in Sydney if you raised that proposition a couple of months ago, but as Mitchell trotted onto the SCG in front of only the most loyal of Roosters fans, he was long odds to retain a jersey which he seemed to have a mortgage on for the next decade just a few weeks ago.
The same whispers that had Mitchell out of Brad Fittler's team for Origin II had Jack Wighton and Tom Trbojevic placed in the centres, unless the 22-year-old could prove he was still capable of his destructive best against the lowly Bulldogs.
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Right on cue, Mitchell's first touch turned into a try.
He may have simply caught a Daniel Tupou bat-back from a Cooper Cronk cross-field kick, but it was a try nonetheless.
Maybe that was the spark Mitchell needed to produce a performance similar to the spectacular showing against the Tigers in May.
That is what it would have taken for Fittler to backflip and name Mitchell for Sunday's must win match in Perth.
But 70 minutes of football later, Mitchell made Fittler's decision for him.
He scored a double, broke two tackles and ran for 70 metres but it was hardly the kind of performance Fittler would have been looking for in order to hand Mitchell a lifeline, and that was confirmed when the NSW coach left him out the squad he named after the match.
The Roosters were more clinical than spectacular and it was Mitchell's usual partner in the centres, Joey Manu, who stole the show.
Manu was the man Trent Robinson turned to at fullback with James Tedesco unavailable, and he delivered.
When he slid across the turf to score their second try of the afternoon in the 25th minute, no other player had more metres gained (109) and only a handful could lay claim to having more impact.
None could lay that claim when the final siren rang out.
Manu scored two tries, set Mitchell up for his second try late in the second term and amassed more run metres (251) than any other player on the field.
He was a constant threat for the wooden spoon favourites, as Mitchell floated in and out of the game.
Manu wasn't the only player happy to fill the attacking void left bRead More – Source
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