‘Ready to rock’: Luai promises Mitchell will rip into Queenslanders

Jarome Luai has promised Latrell Mitchell is ready to rip into some Queenslanders when he returns to the State of Origin arena in Melbourne on Wednesday.

In a candid press conference two days out from Origin’s return to the MCG, Luai said Mitchell’s first game in three years for NSW will be a special one and promised to unlock the Blues’ most destructive attacking weapon.

Quizzed on whether Mitchell was primed to rip into his Queensland rivals, Luai said: “F------ oath, man. That’s the vibe he’s brought into camp. He’s got that aura about him.

“I think if he’s out there, automatically you have to think about him and what he can do. As an individual, there are only a few players as gifted as that. If he turns up ready to rock, look out. All we want to do now is win and win for our state.”

The desperate Blues have turned up the heat on Queensland in the build-up for game two, with coach Michael Maguire accusing the Maroons of living in “glass houses”.

While not mentioning opposite Billy Slater directly, the comment was thought to be a veiled reference to the Queensland coach and his playing days.

NSW Blues five-eighth Jarome Luai on Monday.Credit: Getty Images

Luai has now added more fuel to the fire, by promising the Maroons will have a difficult time trying to subdue Mitchell, who will play alongside the Panthers five-eighth on NSW’s left edge for the first time since the 2021 series.

Asked if it was scary to be on the opposing side when Mitchell is at his best, Luai deadpanned: “I don’t know. I’m next to him. I’m not on the other side of him.

“[But] I think that’s a big responsibility of mine, to unlock Latrell and what he can do. I’ve done that before. That gives me confidence knowing I can do that for him and for our team. I think our relationship will help that on Wednesday. You can’t really hear each other, but you see it, you know it’s on.

“I’ve got a guy like Angus Crichton outside me and he’s playing crazy at the Roosters. There are some weapons I need to unlock. I’ve got my own running game. We definitely have some options there.”

When probed as to how he would unlock Mitchell, Luai would only say, “I’ll show you on Wednesday”.

Maroons veteran Ben Hunt denied Mitchell had affected the psyche of Slater’s team.

“He hasn’t got into our heads at all,” Hunt said on Monday. “We’ve done preparation on him, like you would on any good player. There are a lot of guys in that team who could hurt us as well. We can’t go into an Origin match completely worried about one player.”

The NRL hopes to attract a crowd of over 90,000 for the first Origin match played in Melbourne since 2018, when Brad Fittler’s first game in charge of the Blues paved the way for three of four series wins.

But NSW return to the Victorian capital under enormous pressure to send the series to a decider at Suncorp Stadium and prevent a series loss for the third straight year against master tactician Slater.

Having played more than 72 minutes with just 12 men against the Maroons in Sydney after Joseph Suaalii’s send-off for a high shot on Reece Walsh, the Blues won’t shy away from targeting the Queensland fullback legally in his first game back.

“It’s been spoken about a lot and the fact they think we have a target on his head,” Luai said “Being that type of player he is, and what he can do on the field and what he can do, you’re going to have a target on you already.

“We can’t go in half-arsed. We can’t go in 50 per cent. We’ve got to do what we’ve always planned to do, which is restrict him in what he can do.”

Liam Martin shrugged off any lingering doubts about his turf toe complaint after training strongly in the opening minutes of the Blues’ session at AAMI Park on Monday. Media were escorted from the venue after 10 minutes, but Luai said his Panthers teammate, NSW’s best in the game one defeat, was ready to go.

“We know it’s do-or-die for us,” Luai said. “Right now we are willing to lay it all on the line and give our bodies for the state. I’m getting goosebumps thinking about it. It’s going to be a tough job.”

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