Latrell Mitchell has sent the first injury scare through the NSW Origin camp with his back flaring up late in the game against the Dolphins.
Mitchell looked visibly in pain after a couple of carries in the second half before Souths trainers took no risks and brought him from the field.
He did not require any treatment on the sideline, and coach Wayne Bennett was confident he would be fit for Origin I and NSW duty on May 28. The Blues name their first team on Monday morning.
“If Latrell is fit to play Origin, I’m happy for him,” Bennett said.
“He’s OK, he’s not too bad. It’s nothing major. There’s a 12-day turnaround, so I think he’ll be alright.”
The explosive centre missed last weekend’s win over Cronulla because of a bulging disc in his back. The pain became so bad the week before that he was almost reduced to tears at half-time in Newcastle.
Mitchell was given the all-clear for the Dolphins clash, but was relieved of goal-kicking duties to ease the pressure on his back.
The 28-year-old will be one of the first players picked for NSW, provided his back does not deteriorate.
Souths teammate Cameron Murray will be sweating on being cleared of a cannonball tackle on Kulikefu Finefeuiaki.
“I’m not sure, we’ll have to wait and see,” said Murray, when asked about the tackle.
Pressed on whether he would be upset if the tackle cost him an Origin return, Murray said: “I’d be sad about it, for sure. I love playing in the blue jersey, and any chance I get, I grab with both hands. It would be disappointing.”
In the first game at Magic Round, Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton scored a try but came up with a poor defensive read that led to Will Kennedy’s first try. He was also placed on report late in the game for a tackle on Teig Wilton.
Dogs coach Cameron Ciraldo knows Crichton has never disappointed the Blues. “What I do know is you can rely on people who have been there and done the job in the past. [Crichton’s] one of them,” Ciraldo said.
Backrower Jacob Preston ran a nice line for a try in the first half, but struggled to make much of an impact on the left edge.
For the Sharks, Addin Fonua-Blake had 15 tough carries and punched out big minutes while captaining Cronulla. The Tongan international could become the first beneficiary of the new State of Origin eligibility rules, especially with the Blues in need of a big man with footwork to replace the injured Payne Haas for at least Origin I.
Blayke Brailey played 139 consecutive games but missed the Dogs clash because of concussion, but the absence would not count against him, according to Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon.
“I wouldn’t have thought missing this week would have anything to do with the selection process – if you play 139 [games] straight, you have a rough idea if he’s good enough,” Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon said of Brailey.
“I want them to play, I think it’s just reward, we’ve been one of the more consistent teams for years now without many personal rewards in that.”
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Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.