Losing Latrell Mitchell takes the sheen off Origin and hurts the NRL’s Adelaide ambitions

I n a huge blow to Brad Fittler’s New South Wales men and the NRL’s hopes of making an impact in the non-traditional rugby league town of Adelaide, Latrell Mitchell has been ruled out of the State of Origin opener.

A calf injury picked up at training on Sunday saw Mitchell’s hopes of returning to the Blues dashed. Stephen Crichton, an undoubted talent, takes his place but Mitchell is one of the few players in this game – and in his generation – that are irreplaceable.

Mitchell will be sorely missed as the Blues try to win back the Origin shield and regain some respect after last year’s shock loss. The South Sydney back may not have been selected in his position of preference yet such is his ability he was rated unquestionably the best centre in the game. In the four-decade long history of Origin, only Queenslanders Mal Meninga and Greg Inglis attracted more attention and had a larger influence than Mitchell.

The term “strike” is often used a little loosely in rugby league but it is the perfect descriptor of Mitchell, a player who has the rare ability to change a match with a moment of sublime skill as much as with brute strength or elite speed. But even that combination of strength, speed, smarts and skill does not truly do justice to the significance he can add to a football game.

Mitchell carries himself like a star. He brings gravitas. He provides an aggression that lifts those around him, a player that inspires and elevates – one that must be gameplanned for.

Billy Slater switched Valentine Holmes from his preferred left side to the right for the sole purpose of trying to shut down Mitchell – an adjustment the Maroons coach would be unlikely to make for any other player. Second-gamer Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was put on