South Sydney superstar Latrell Mitchell left training early on Monday morning and is set to miss his side’s clash against the Eels on Thursday, with teammate Jye Gray describing the injury setback as “devastating” as NSW fans hold their breath to see if the strike centre will be ruled out long term.
Mitchell missed the first two games of the Origin series with a back injury but was set to return for the Bunnies against Parramatta to prove his fitness for a potential NSW return in next month’s decider.
The world’s best centre was in good spirits on the Matty Johns Show on Sunday and then started Monday’s training session with his teammates but headed back inside after about 30 minutes before he left the facility.
It remains unclear whether it was a flare up of his bulging disc or if it was a new injury, but either way it’s a huge blow for the Rabbitohs and Blues, with Mitchell unlikely to be picked for NSW given his last game was back in round 11.
“He brings such an energy and a presence to training, and when we’re out there on the field, you know when he’s next to you,” Gray said.
“You just want to see all your teammates get out on the field and not have these injury setbacks. But he will be back, so we’re hopeful. We don’t know how bad anything is at the moment, (but it’s) obviously devastating for him.
“I have no idea (what the injury is). By the time we got back in after training, he was gone, so I actually have no idea what it is.
“It was devastating that he had to go off, but obviously we have a next man up mentality, and it was at the start of training, so whoever filled in there at the end just has to come in, do a job, and fill the shoes that he left.”
South Sydney forward Lachlan Hubner said it was “happy days” as a Queenslander for Mitchell to potentially miss the decider, but Gray put state loyalties aside if it meant having their star centre back on deck.
“He’s my teammate so I want him to be playing,” the fullback said.
“NSW will probably want him back. I think Queensland still have the team to win, but as a teammate and as a person, you don’t want to see anyone injured ever so we want him back as soon as possible.
“We had a couple of byes (earlier in the season) and everyone got off, and I think he was still in here training.
“That just goes to show how badly he does want to get out on the field and represent our club. He’s putting in the work for sure. It’s just an unfortunate run of luck, and he will be back soon.”
Jack Wighton could be a shock inclusion this week after training strongly with a big brace to protect the forearm he broke earlier this season.
“He brings a lot of experience with over 200 NRL games and representative football,” Rabbitohs prop Junior Tatola said.
“He brings a lot of energy, so if he does play then it’d be great to have him back. If he doesn’t we’ve got boys to back up.”
