NRL 2022, round 3: Latrell Mitchell, Cam Murray star as South Sydney defeat Roosters
Souths star Latrell Mitchell had the last laugh in the much-hyped showdown against his old club, the Roosters, as he sealed the Bunnies’ first win of the season.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Latrell Mitchell finished off his old club running away up the left touchline, arm raised as he went. But finish the feud? Um, no.
Roughly seven months after his tackle smashed the face of Roosters centre Joey Manu – and ignited who knows how many follow up headlines since — South Sydney’s No.1 in every sense went and iced this hyped rematch with the type of big match play for which he is quickly becoming accustomed.
Even bettere, though, there are more chapters to come.
Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free In Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now.
A truth proved by the fact Roosters centre Manu … well, he came up with at least one big play for every piece of metal in his face. Then, found a couple more.
One of which, after scoring, saw this usually laidback Rooster slam the Steeden forcefully into the turf, right near the melon of floored Souths defender Mitchell.
Coincidence?
You can’t rule it out. Just like flying saucers.
But the more likely scenario is that, while everyone talks it down, there exists something between Mitchell and his old club – plus the fella he outed — that will continue to bubble right throughout this season.
And, yes, Mitchell won this night.
With his Rabbitohs getting home 28-16 against the Tricolours thanks not only to that Mitchell runaway try, or some dogged goal line defence, but a performance from skipper Cameron Murray that was so good, even eighth Immortal Joey Johns was tossing it up as a potential perfect 10.
Early on though, and after a week of headlines, it was all about which player would explode.
Mitchell? Manu? Cody Walker? JWH?
Incredibly, nobody lost it.
Or not really.
Which was no small thing considering in Mitchell’s first return of the footy, he not only collided with Manu, or clashed heads, but had the Roosters centre grab momentarily at his head. That same one, remember, with three plates.
Asked about Mitchell remaining poised right throughout this most-hyped of blockbusters, coach Jason Demetriou said: “I’ve seen that every week throughout the pre-season.
“His discipline off the field and the things he’s doing around that.
“He’s maturing ... (and) he’s living what he is speaking about too which is important. I know the impact he has on our change room.”
Manu, meanwhile, spent his own 80 minutes playing more than a little solidly in a game where he scored one try, orchestrated another and almost leapt up for a third.
Indeed, it was the Rooster who set up skipper James Tedesco for the side’s opening try with a brilliant piece of play that saw him step off the right foot, throw out a left hand and then pass.
Or as coach Trent Robinson suggested afterwards, “it was nice to see Joey get that dancing on again”.
In fact, one of his few errors was dropping the pass that Mitchell eventually scooped up to steal the game, although to be fair it was a terrible ball that bobbled around his ankles.
Of course the other big story out of this one was Murray.
Aka Captain Redfern.
With the Souths skipper not only scoring the home side’s first try, but then setting up the second and third with plays equal parts skill and effort.
“I benched him last week so it’s worked a treat,” Demetriou joked afterwards. “And that’s why he’s our captain. Over the last two weeks he’s done exactly what we know he’s capable of and what has a massive impact on this team.”
All of which gave the Bunnies, and Mitchell, bragging rights.
For now.
MURRAY STEALS SPOTLIGHT TO INSPIRE RABBITOHS
-Martin Gabor
Rivals Latrell Mitchell and Joseph Manu were relegated to the supporting cast as Cameron Murray upstaged the biggest storyline in rugby league to lead his Rabbitohs to a season-changing 28-16 win over their fiercest rivals.
The Bunnies headed into the Round 3 game against the Roosters staring at the possibility of an 0-3 start to the year, but their captain and proud South Sydney junior was never going to let that happen.
South Sydney’s attack has been rightly panned this season, but they showed that a simplified approach is all it takes to turn things around.
We’re still scratching our heads trying to work out why Murray started on the bench last week against Melbourne, and it’s even more confusing after what he did on Friday night.
“I benched him last week so it’s worked a treat,” Souths coach Jason Demetrious laughed.
The Rabbitohs skipper was absolutely everywhere in an inspirational first half that saw him score the first try, set up their second and run for a team-high 88 metres as his speed and ball-playing helped his team control the ruck.
On the back of that, Damien Cook was able to scoot from dummy-half whenever he wanted, Cody Walker and Lachlan Ilias challenged the line and the Bunnies reminded everyone that they are still very good.
What they did in the first half was impressive, but coach Jason Demetriou would’ve been absolutely thrilled with a set play that has probably taken months to perfect.
The big guns all had their fingerprints on it before Murray popped a deft pass back inside to Walker to put the Rabbitohs up by eight, a lead they extended when Keaon Koloamatangi crashed over after a false start with the Bunker.
This is a win the Rabbitohs simply needed ahead of next week’s Grand Final rematch with the Panthers. Sequels aren’t always as good as the original, but as we saw with the Godfather 50 years ago, sometimes they can be even better.
Expect their man with the Hollywood looks to play a big role.
BRUT OF A RIVALRY
This was champagne rugby league.
After 80 painful minutes in Campbelltown, this was like switching from cask wine to a bottle of Bollinger that would have impressed James Bond.
These teams hate each other. So do the fans. And the players. And you could feel it from Latrell Mitchell’s first carry when he and Joseph Manu came together leaving the Roosters centre clutching his face after some accidental contact.
And then 40 minutes later – months after one of the most controversial moments of 2021 – Manu got his revenge on Mitchell when he scored to start the second half and spiked the ball just as the Bunny did to the Roosters in the same game he smashed his former teammate’s face.
Mitchell and the partisan Rabbitohs crowd thought he’d struck back almost immediately when he pounced on a clever kick by Alex Johnston, but the Bunker had other ideas and disallowed it because the winger did not in fact kick the ball.
But Latrell was not going to be denied his moment in the spotlight. After Manu put down a shocking pass, Mitchell received a pass on his own side of halfway and raced away in front of the South Sydney faithful for a famous four-pointer.
“He’s been pretty excited all pre-season to get back out there, and I know it hurt to not be out there for Round 1,” Murray said. “I thought Latrell played really well tonight.”
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
The Roosters are one of the best attacking teams in the comp. This isn’t new information.
But they do need to rein it sometimes, especially in a game that was always going to be a grinding affair played in greasy conditions.
The Chooks coughed up the ball eight times in the first half with skipper James Tedesco producing three errors of his own. He scored a beautiful try off a lovely offload by Manu, but he was guilty of rushing it when nothing was on.
“It was a bit on me with silly errors and the execution was pretty bad. I’ve got to be more patient,” Tedesco said.
Most of those errors amounted to nothing, but the star fullback would have been filthy with himself when he pushed a pass off a 20-metre tap that was punished by Johnston seconds later.
“That was pretty poor,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said. “We were impatient. We were really impatient to play our footy and we lacked the maturity to our game.”
More Coverage
Originally published as NRL 2022, round 3: Latrell Mitchell, Cam Murray star as South Sydney defeat Roosters
Aussie coach quits before history-making match
Speculation over the future of the man in charge of the Jillaroos has ended with a swift decision from the NRL.
Jillaroos coach sensationally quits just before Las Vegas Test
The Jillaroos will head to Las Vegas for their historic Test match against England with a new coach, after a turbulent six months finally caught up with long-standing coach Brad Donald.