One-time NSW centre Brett Rodwell had flashbacks of Mal Meninga cutting him in half when watching Latrell Mitchell produce the “hit of the year” on his son, Toby.
Rodwell was in the stands at Allianz Stadium last Friday night when Mitchell ironed out an unsuspecting Rodwell just before full-time.
The young halfback was able to get to his feet and walk off, but later failed his head injury assessment because of the power of the legal hit.
“It was brutal but a fair tackle – it probably upset my wife than it upset me,” Rodwell, a gun centre who played one match for NSW in 1995 and the Illawarra Steelers throughout the 90s, said.
“He didn’t see him coming, so when you’re not bracing for impact, you’re all floppy, and it looked more savage than it did. It was still savage, but Toby dusted himself off. He failed his HIA, but he was fine.
“To be honest, he’s sick of seeing the replay. I still live in Wollongong, but I had dinner with the boys [Toby and his brother, Roosters’ winger Tom] on Wednesday night, and the tackle came up on the TV as one of the promos for this weekend’s finals. He can’t get away from it.
“I’m sure Latrell didn’t go out to harm him intentionally. A bit was made about him standing over Toby, but I thought it was just in the contest and in the heat of the battle. He made a statement, and that was the end result.
“It would have been worse had he flopped on top of him. He actually made a point of reaching out to make sure Toby was OK after the game via one of the Roosters’ trainers.
“It brought back memories of being hit by Mal. I started out running it too straight, and learned my lessons quickly.”
Newcastle will be hoping Mitchell does not add to his impressive highlights reel for the Rabbitohs in Friday night’s elimination final at Allianz Stadium.
Here are five magical moments from this season Mitchell’s teammates said they would not forget:
Smashing Toby
Rabbitohs playmaker and hooker Jamie Humphries likened last Friday’s sound of Mitchell smashing Rodwell, 20, to a “car crash”.
“I was defending on the edge next to Latrell, I saw Latrell fly past the back of my shoulder, and the next minute the ball was flying out – the contact was like nothing I’ve ever heard on a rugby league field before,” Humphries said.
“I knew it was a clean hit. I was feeling for Toby. I know his brother Tom, we live in the same area, and we trained a lot together through the off-season. It was a monster hit. It was inch-perfect from Trell.”
Palming off KP
Knights captain Kalyn Ponga was flattened when Mitchell steamed over the top of him for a try in Newcastle.
Cody Walker said that Sunday afternoon, in round nine, “he put us all on his back”.
The hosts jumped to a 22-0 lead, Mitchell kicked into gear, Souths led 38-36, only to concede a late Newcastle try to lose 42-38.
“I just had to get him the ball in good space and let him do his thing; you need to give Trell the ball at the right time, and not just for the sake of it,” Walker said.
“He was outstanding that second half. He made things happen. I was in the middle when he scored over Kalyn. I passed him the ball, he passed to ‘AJ’ [Alex Johnston], then wrapped around. I had a clear view. What a sight.”
Half Jayden Sullivan sat in the sheds that day witnessing Mitchell almost in tears because of back pain at half-time, and realised he needed to adopt a similar ruthless approach when it came to playing and blocking out injuries.
Launching monster field-goal
Mitchell has one of the biggest left boots in the game, and unleashed it for a two-point field-goal on an historic night in Melbourne.
The Bunnies had never beaten the Storm in the Victorian capital, but they did this night, 42-6, with Mitchell adding to the misery midway through the second half. It was not as big as the field-goal from almost 50m out to beat Brisbane a year earlier, but it was still outstanding.
“Trell doesn’t think about much on the field, it all comes so naturally to him, someone got tackled that night, he told me to move back, then he slotted this field-goal that finished about 10 rows deep,” prop Keaon Koloamatangi said.
“It would have travelled more than 60m on the fly, and went straight over the black dot.”
Slaying Dragons
Mitchell scored four tries against St George Illawarra, but one four-pointer stood out for teammate Campbell Graham.
Mitchell casually picked up the ball 10m out from dummy-half and trampled over Queensland and Australia representative Valentine Holmes.
“That was a moment Trell showed why he’s the best centre in the world when he’s on,” Graham said.
“The confidence he breeds into the group when he does those things, it’s why he’s one of the most influential players in the game.”
Final pass before pandemonium
And who can forget the night Johnston broke Ken Irvine’s try-scoring record just after half-time at Allianz Stadium in round two?
Mitchell was inside Johnston, delivering a perfect pass for him to race down field, just as he told everyone he would do.
“Trell kept telling everyone he would set AJ up for his milestone try, and he did,” fellow centre Jack Wighton said.
“He broke away that night and it was like watching poetry in motion.”
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