Latrell Mitchell and Daly Cherry-Evans caught up in 'classless' scenes after State of Origin 2

There were bizarre scenes in the aftermath of State of Origin 2 on Wednesday when Latrell Mitchell and Daly Cherry-Evans were both booed by fans at the MCG while conducting post-match interviews. NSW blew Queensland off the park in the first half, racing out 38-18 winners to send the series to a decider at Suncorp Stadium.

Mitchell had a brilliant game in his return to the State of Origin arena for the first time since 2021, scoring a try, assisting in another and pulling off some huge defensive plays. But there were ugly scenes after the full-time siren when Mitchell was noticeably booed and jeered by fans at the MCG when speaking to Channel 9.

The South Sydney player has been booed by opposition spectators a number of times over the last few seasons, and is always a divisive figure amongst fans. Wednesday night's game was held in neutral territory in Melbourne, but there was a distinct support for Queensland due to the number of Storm players who feature for the Maroons.

Considering how many fans in attendance were going for Queensland, it wasn't all that surprising that Mitchell copped some boos after the game. But in bizarre scenes, Maroons skipper Cherry-Evans was also booed when he conducted an interview just moments later.

Mitchell appeared to be thrown off guard by the reaction from the crowd and didn't appear to take it very well, sarcastically saying "how good is that" to Paul Gallen. Viewers watching at home lashed out on social media over the unsavoury scenes.

"Why are people booing Latrell after the game?" one person wrote. "Lacks a bit of class that. Game should respect game. He was brilliant tonight."

Another commented: "Those Victorians seem kind of confused. They’re booing Latrell Mitchell and Daly Cherry-Evans in the post-game."

Latrell Mitchell pays tribute to teammates after Origin victory

Mitchell showed his class by praising his teammates in his post-match comments. “We dedicated ourselves to defending there and showing the 'Blue wall'," he said.

“You know what, I honestly don’t make it about myself. It’s about the people that showed up today, about everyone here in blue jerseys, blue shirts, our families showing up, NSW showing up, mate. It’s a neutral ground to come to. We’ve got a job to do.

“I’m optimistic, mate, I tell you what. Keep showing up, keep working on what we were trying to work on what we were trying to work on there. We’ve got a couple of weeks to go to prepare for that.”

NSW coach Michael Maguire was stoked for Mitchell after picking him for Game 2 when he initially overlooked him for the series opener. “When you’ve got the calibre of players around someone like Latrell it allows him to go and do what he needs to do,” he said.

“Rather than singling out one player… Latrell’s a great player and we all know that. Where he’s at at the moment and how he’s playing his footy, it’s great when everyone else plays their part it allows Latrell to shine and do all the things we admire.”

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Mitchell Moses was outstanding in a man of the match display for the Blues after being recalled at the expense of Nicho Hynes. Angus Crichton, Payne Haas and Zac Lomax were also immense for NSW.

"It was nice to see the leaders went out and controlled the game," Maguire said. "What you saw in the first half is what I believe this group is capable of. We have got to replicate that. Mitch came in and did what I believed he was capable of doing, he was strong with the way he wanted to play the game."