NRL round 14: South Sydney Rabbitohs defeats Gold Coast Titans 46-12, Latrell Mitchell impresses as he surges for Origin recall

Latrell Mitchell has put his hand up to answer New South Wales’ SOS after playing a starring role in the Rabbitohs’ 46-12 shellacking of the Gold Coast Titans.

Latrell Mitchell vs Titans. Picture: NRL Imagery

Latrell Mitchell’s State of Origin exodus could be finally coming to an end.

Mitchell put his hand up to answer New South Wales’ SOS after playing a starring role in the Rabbitohs’ 46-12 shellacking of the Gold Coast Titans.

Mitchell made a mockery of the Titans, whose performance resembled that of a training run, scoring Souths’ first try, laying on three others and saving just as many defensively throughout.

Uncharacteristically, Mitchell also dominated his side’s kicking play with his towering bombs troubling the Titans’ defence all afternoon.

The suspension of Joseph Sua’ali’i has opened the door for an Origin return for Mitchell, who hasn’t featured for the Blues since 2021. All seven of his previous New South Wales appearances have been at centre.

Souths interim coach Ben Hornby, no stranger to the Origin arena himself, backed Mitchell to do a job for the Blues if selected.

“Latrell has been playing well for the last couple of weeks. He’ll continue to build like the rest of the team. He was great and he’ll only get better,” Hornby said.

“I can’t see why Madge (Blues coach Michael Maguire) wouldn’t want to pick him.”

Mitchell will have one last chance to impress against competition heavyweights Brisbane and several Queensland incumbents this Friday night.

Latrell Mitchell did his best to audition for a Blues recall. Picture: NRL Imagery

DROUGHT BREAKER

Sealing back-to-back wins for the first time in 13 months, the Rabbitohs’ 34-point win has allowed them to jump off the bottom rung of the NRL ladder for the first time since April.

While Mitchell was instrumental, he was well complemented by his team’s most complete performance of the season to date.

Damien Cook showed glimpses of his old self while middle forwards Keaon Koloamatangi, Tom Burgess and Davvy Moale made over 120 metres. The latter two even enjoyed the spoils of second half tries.

Jack Wighton and Cody Walker were also solid without being spectacular in their first 80-minute showing together in the halves.

Jack Wighton was solid in the no.6 jersey for Souths. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

A tough day for the Titans at home. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE

The Titans were horrible, but a Try of the Year contender from Alofiana Khan-Pereira certainly was not.

Khan-Pereira was handed a licence to thrill upon receiving a hopeful Brian Kelly pass from 65 metres out. Quickly leaving Michael Chee-Kam in his wake, Khan-Pereira then made light work of Mitchell and Jai Arrow before setting sail for the tryline.

Proving there’s no substitute for speed, no other Rabbitohs defender came within cooee of the winger as he crossed for his ninth try in six games.

DON’T POKE THE BEAR

Walker is renowned for agitating his opponents, but he was left regretting poking Titans firebrand David Fifita one too many times.

The Indigenous All Stars teammates were at each other’s throats throughout the second half with it culminating in the final 10 minutes when Fifita barged his way over the chirpy playmaker on his way to four points.

Left to pick his ribs out of the turf, Walker only had moments to recover as Fifita secured the Rabbitohs’ kick-off and made another beeline for the veteran.

Walker would ultimately have the last laugh, though Fifita didn’t do himself a disservice in securing an unlikely Queensland Origin recall.

Walker could only laugh about the exchanges post-game.

“He’s a big part of their team. Very dangerous one-on-one which I found out the hard way about. Credit to my teammates, it’s hard to be perfect on him but we handled him okay given how dangerous he is.”

Originally published as NRL round 14: South Sydney Rabbitohs defeats Gold Coast Titans 46-12, Latrell Mitchell impresses as he surges for Origin recall