Latrell Mitchell says he ‘heard a crack in his neck’ as he races clock to be fit for NSW
LATRELL Mitchell feared the worst as he laid motionless on the Allianz Stadium surface on Friday night after going down in a nasty incident in the Roosters clash with the Panthers.
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LATRELL Mitchell feared the worse after “hearing a crack in his neck” as he laid motionless on the Allianz Stadium surface on Friday night.
But a relieved Mitchell was cleared of serious injury despite worries he had seriously hurt himself.
Now Mitchell is racing the clock to be fit for the Blues next Sunday with Mitchell next to no chance of training before Thursday.
That means he may be limited to just the captain’s run on Saturday before lining up for his second State of Origin game, after starring for NSW in the Origin opener.
In a boost for Queensland, Mitchell’s Roosters teammate Dylan Napa was also cleared of a serious ankle injury and could also take his place at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
Roosters chief medical officer Ameer Ibrahim held grave concerns for Mitchell when he rushed to his side during the Roosters 32-6 win against Penrith.
“It was scary in that he heard a crack in his neck and was reluctant to move which was the right thing to do,” Ibrahim told the Sunday Telegraph.
“He was emotional on the field. He was concerned about his neck. I always get concerned as a doctor when the player has a feeling something is going on. I felt that when I was out there. We had to take all precautions and assume he had a neck injury.”
Mitchell had an MRI scan on site during the second half on Friday. Ibrahim described the injury as a “minor ligament sprain in the neck” which would be stiff for a number of days.
“Fortunately there are no major structural issues,” Ibrahim said.
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“He is going to have wait until he gets a full range of motion and loosen up any stiff joints.
“I imagine by the second half of the week he will be ready to train. Provided there are no hiccups he should be right for the weekend.”
The scare soured what was meant to be a special occasion for Mitchell. He had a host of family members among the crowd to celebrate what is his 21st birthday on Saturday.
“He is a very emotional person,” Ibrahim said. “The fact it was his 21st birthday and he had a lot of his family at the game, it got to him by the end.”
The Maroons had problems of their own when Napa limped from the field after just 14 minutes with an ankle injury.
Ibrahim was hopeful about the prop’s chances of lining up for Queensland.
“I’m optimistic that Dylan will be right for Origin,” Ibrahim said. “It’s a reoccurrence of an old injury and they usually settle faster than if you do it for the first time.”
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