James Tedesco, Latrell Mitchell shine as Roosters overwhelm Titans
IN his last chance to showcase his wares before Origin I, Latrell Mitchell has starred for the Roosters in their 34-14 belting of the Titans on the Central Coast.
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IT was the barnstorming run that both buried the Titans and proved Latrell Mitchell is ready to play for the Blues.
Barely sighted during the first 50 minutes of the clash against the Titans in Gosford, the Roosters centre smashed his way through three Gold Coast defenders to score the try that should make his State of Origin dream become a reality.
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Sparking the late flurry that would see the Roosters score four unanswered tries to demolish the Titans, Mitchell stormed through a hole before charging over a trio of Gold Coast defenders to send a shockwave through Queensland.
Bryce Cartwright was the first to be brushed aside. Michael Gordon was next. And finally Mitchell left Max King lying on the ground as the Rooster scored 28 unanswered points to rebound into the winners circle.
And the pass that sent him on the 20m spectacular came from NSW captain Boyd Cordner.
“It would be great to see him in a Blues jersey,’’ Cordner said.
“But at the end of the day that is to Freddy (Blues coach Brad Fittler).’’
Mitchell exploded into the type of form that could help end the Maroons State of Origin dynasty in the second half after barley touching the ball in the first 40.
“I thought there was a lot of emotion there (for Latrell),’’ Robinson said.
“I think the first half wasn’t to his liking. I think he wanted to come out in that second half and really push a lot harder. Obviously he went down the short-side with Boyd who gave him that pass that opened up the gap.’’
Sent to the sin bin late in the match following a string of Roosters penalties, Mitchell also made 18 tackles with his defence lifting in the second half.
“He also forced a couple of errors with some better defence in the second half,’’ Robinson said.
“That was a big improvement as the game went on for him.’’
The Roosters were in danger of crashing to back-to-back loses until Mitchell broke the game open following a shocking start to the Central Coast Stadium clash.
Out to rebound following last week’s lost to the Broncos, the Roosters went to halftime trailing 14-6 after Michael Gordon (8th minute) and Anthony Don (30th) scored to put the Titans on top.
Robinson said he resisted giving his team a spray during the break.
“I was pretty positive actually,’’ Robinson said.
“I knew if we just improved an area of our defence we would be back into it. I told them if we could keep it to 14 we could get something positive out of it. We got some possession and we obviously had a good second half.’’
The Roosters floored there way home with Cooper Cronk and Mitchell Aubusson scoring to make it a 20-0 win.
James Tedesco scored the Roosters opening try and made 175 run meters to also state his NSW case.
“We weren’t to happy about how first half,’’ Tedesco said.
“So it as good to finish it off. My performance wasn’t too bad. I was just trying to push forward around the middle.’’
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 34 (M Aubusson C Cronk I Liu L Mitchell J Tedesco tries L Mitchell 6 B Ferguson goals) bt GOLD COAST 14 (A Don M Gordon tries M Gordon 3 goals) at Central Coast Stadium. Referee: Ben Cummins, Peter Gough.