Crash Craddock: Why the Maroons don’t mind seeing Latrell Mitchell back for the Blues

Latrell Mitchell’s State of Origin return has put the Maroons exactly where they want to be – in the shadows. Plus, the push to get a Queensland-based up-and-comer into the NSW set-up.

Robert Craddock

3 min read

June 16, 2024 - 2:12PM

News Sport Network

NSW Blues v QLD Maroons Game 1 State of Origin match at Accor Stadium, Sydney. Photo: NRL Photos / Brett Costello

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The Queensland side has great respect for Latrell Mitchell but his return to State of Origin is welcomed on two fronts.

The first is because it puts the Maroons back to their happy place … as the invisible team.

We are not talking underdog status because Queensland will start favourites to win at the MCG but with Mitchell mania sweeping the world, debate over the settled Queensland side has been all but non-existent.

For Queensland, being invisible is not quite as tasty as being spurned underdogs – but it’s a sweet place to be.

Secondly, for all the fanfare over Mitchell’s recall, there is no doubt his elevation represents a complete change in priorities for NSW from Game 1.

The Maroons welcome the Latrell show. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

Coach Michael Maguire keeps his selection cards extremely close to his chest but the whisper on every street corner was that Mitchell would be left out of the first game because the coach wanted a team of hard workers with no egos.

That theory vaporised after a landslide loss. Conservatism has been crushed with the need to go cavalier.

Blues coaches and selectors have always struggled to know what to make of Mitchell – the man not the player. He makes them nervous.

One of the reason’s Mitchell will be highly motivated is that he can redefine his tortured winter with just 80 minutes of stardust.

If he can be the matchwinner he will be an instant poster boy for the tortured Blues and a club season which has been a disaster is suddenly pushed into the shadows.

I SAY I SAY

Andrew Johns has called for Isaiya Katoa to be included in the NSW set-up. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

The push is on for Dolphins whiz-kid Isaiya Katoa to be part of the NSW State of Origin set-up.

Legend Andrew Johns talked up Katoa on Channel 9 on Sunday like he has talked up very few players, tipping him to play 300 games and saying NSW should bring him into their Origin camp because he is on a one-way course towards representative football.

That would be an even smarter move that it sounds. The 20-year-old Katoa, born in New Zealand and raised in Sydney, is eligible to play for NSW, New Zealand and Tonga.

He has already played for Tonga and will eventually have to decide between NSW and New Zealand but is biding his time before making a decision. The sooner the Blues show interest the better for them – the worse for Queensland.

There is no doubt fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidau has been the club’s most vaunted signing but Katoa is not far behind him.

DYNAMIC DOLPHINS

The Dolphins are thriving. Picture: Richard Gosling

The Dolphins are making the majority of the competition look silly.

For a team in their second year to have the collective fibre of the Dolphins is not only a stunning and rare achievement but it also spotlights how modest some other clubs are.

The Dolphins effort to be in the top four at the halfway point of the competition has proved to the NRL why it makes sense to make the next team in the Perth Bears and not simply a Perth-only team.

This way, the new side will inherit some heritage in the same way as the rusted on spirit of the Redcliffe Dolphins came with the new NRL franchise.

Whatever happens at the Dolphins gets chewed over all throughout Redcliffe, from shopping centres to the local harness racing track.

When Tevita Pangai junior missed what was to be his first training session at the Dolphins last week due to a private commitment, one trainer said, “Ray Stone would have been there”.

BRONCOS BEWARE

Jordan Riki, Brisbane Broncos training, Red Hill. Picture: Liam Kidston

The suspension of Jordan Riki has left the Broncos short in one key area of the game – the kick chase.

It’s one area of Riki’s game that continues to shine. History tells us the struggling Broncos will have to win nine of their last 10 games to make the top four and around six to make the finals. Nothing is certain.