Blues bombshell: Latrell Mitchell axed by Brad Fittler
Latrell Mitchell has been axed by NSW coach Brad Fittler just as he scored two tries in a Roosters victory.
The 22-year-old tallied 18 points in his side’s 38-12 win over the Bulldogs at the SCG on Sunday.
But it arrived as 7 News reported Mitchell had been left out of the team for State of Origin II next Sunday in Perth, with confirmation coming an hour later.
“It's the hardest thing I've had to do. The great thing was he scored a couple of tries today,” Fittler said of axing Mitchell.
“Let's hope he gets his smile back and his swagger. It won’t be long before he’s back playing rep footy.
“The biggest thing was we had expectations up at Suncorp and he didn't meet those expectations.
“We really need our players to work hard for each other and at the end of the day Queensland wanted it more than us, which was a shame. I guess Latrell was a bit of a consequence of that.”
Fittler made the decision to axe Mitchell before the Roosters game and had not spoken to the player on Sunday.
Canberra’s Jack Wighton will fill the void in the centres after coming off the bench at Suncorp Stadium two weeks ago.
Mitchell was heavily criticised for his below-par performance in the opening game as Queensland took out victory in Brisbane.
He missed last week’s Roosters loss to Penrith to spend time in his hometown Taree on NSW’s North Coast.
His mindset was brought into question following his split from manager Steve Deacon, with former NSW coach Phil Gould questioning Mitchell’s headspace.
“His week was fantastic, (dropping Mitchell) was nothing to do with off-field,” Fittler explained.
“It was all about on-field.”
Blues make seven changes
Blake Ferguson, Tom Trbojevic, James Maloney, Daniel Saifiti, Dale Finucane, Wade Graham and Tariq Sims have all been called in for the game at Optus Stadium.
David Klemmer (wrist), Payne Haas (hamstring) and Nick Cotric (ankle) are injured, while Cody Walker, Angus Crichton and Josh Morris joined Mitchell in being overlooked.
“Freddy gave me a buzz and asked me if I’m ready to go,” Maloney said on Sunday night.
“I said ‘yep, let’s do it’.”
Fittler admitted Crichton was only in the team to cover for an underdone Tyson Frizell in game one, and that Morris was a victim of Trbojevic's return from injury.
He also said Maloney had earned a recall over Walker after an upswing in form over the past few weeks for Penrith, who have won four straight.
"He's had some pressure on him," Fittler said.
"The last two games, he's been great. He won the game with a field goal in the last five minutes on the weekend, and set up a try earlier in the game as well.
"I think he made sure he understands that he needed to play better at the start of the year and we had expectations of how he should've been playing.
"It's come to this now. I think the pressure's helped him and he's come good."
Blues squad: Tedesco, Ferguson, T Trbojevic, Wighton, Addo-Carr, Maloney, Cleary, Saifiti, Cook, Vaughan, Cordner, Frizell. Interchange: Finucane, T Sims, Murray, Graham.
Maroons hold strong
Queensland have recalled Tim Glasby and Jarrod Wallace as the Maroons look to wrap up the State of Origin series in Perth next week.
The pair have been brought in as replacements for injured forwards Joe Ofahengaue (knee) and Jai Arrow (ankle).
Christian Welch, Edrick Lee and Corey Norman have also been added to an extended squad, which will assemble in Perth on Monday.
Maroons squad: Ponga, Oates, Morgan, Chambers, Gagai, Munster, Cherry-Evans, Napa, Hunt, Papalii, Kaufusi, Gillett, McGuire. Interchange: Mbye, Wallace, Glasby, D Fifita. Reserves: Welch, Lee, Norman.
with AAP