Why getting axed is not the worst thing
Dropped Blues player Mitchell can take heart from pages of Origin history
IF Latrell Mitchell needs a reminder his State of Origin axing may not hurt his rugby league career, he should dust off Game II of the 2002 series.
The Roosters centre was the most surprising of seven changes to the New South Wales Blues side for Sunday’s potentially Origin-deciding game at Perth.
A Queensland win will return the coveted shield to Suncorp Stadium, while the Blues will fight for a decider on home turf next month.
Along with some injuryforced changes, Blues coach Brad Fittler sent Mitchell packing the same day the Taree product, often compared to retired superstar Greg Inglis, starred for the Roosters.
There once was another centre who, while playing club footy for the Roosters, played one of the most disastrous Origin games ever seen, but he bounced back to become a great of the game.
Cairns product Justin Hodges was into the third year of a somewhat turbulent start to his NRL career. He played 17 games in two years at the Broncos, but was banished to a feeder club when he signed a threeyear deal at the Roosters.
It was during his first year at the Roosters he made his Origin debut, and while there was plenty of excitement about the Kangaroos junior making it into the Maroons team, it quickly became a horror show.
Just 27 minutes into his first game wearing the Maroons’ No.4 jersey, Hodges fielded an Andrew Johns kick, and fired a pass towards then fullback Darren Lockyer. It didn’t hit its target. Instead, the ball sailed over the mercurial Bronco’s head and NSW pounced.
It happened again in the 61st minute, and he was subsequently hooked.
Queensland won the game to tie the series, but Hodges was replaced for Game III.
He eventually played 24 State of Origin games and is a Maroons legend.
Fellow Far North Maroons legend and future Immortal Billy Slater didn’t suffer a horror start to his Origin career but he too was dropped early.
He played five Origins in 2004-05, but was dumped for Game III in 2005, infuriating the Maroons faithful. It became a three-year absence from the Origin arena for the Innisfail product, but when he returned for Queensland in 2008 he was a different beast.
A number of people are arguing Mitchell would never have been dropped if he was a Queenslander, but this could be the decision that could make him an even more dangerous footballer.
He’ll understandably hurt for a bit, but now he knows how being dropped feels it’s unlikely he’ll ever want to feel the same again.
When he comes back to the Origin arena, he’ll be an even more potent threat. What do you think of Latrell Mitchell’s axing? @MMcInerney89