Latrell Mitchell post-game image should delight every NRL fan

Latrell Mitchell has endured a year from hell - but one image from Wednesday night should put a smile on the face of every NRL fan.

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Latrell Mitchell’s relationship with rugby league had become so strained this year, the only reason he’d smile at full-time was because he was mere seconds from getting off the paddock for another week.

Whether it was due to Souths turgid season, the insufferable online community or just his own lack of form, it seemed the Rabbitohs fullback was loathing footy almost as much as NSW fans loathed Origin.

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But it was clear on Wednesday night this love has been emphatically revived.

It can’t be denied, the image of Mitchell and his beaming smile at full-time after hearing the crowd cheer him was as heartwarming as the monstrous beating NSW administered only minutes earlier.

“How good’s that,” Latrell said upon hearing the cheers.

And whether you were one of the majority cheering Mitchell during his chat with Paul Gallen or the small wedge of narks booing, anyone who wasn’t pleased for the big guy after the season he’s experienced is either an ice-cold curmudgeon, a pathological nutbar or a Queenslander with a failed multi.

You can watch the moment in the video at the top of the page

Latrell Mitchell was chuffed by the response he got from the MCG crowd.

After an annus horribilis 2024 that has seen him suspended, embroiled in Jason Demetriou’s sacking and fronting weekly funerals for Souths games, seeing Mitchell happy on Wednesday night as he bashed Queenslanders was a sight for sore eyes.

Furthermore, watching him swallow the pressure and inflict it upon Val Holmes was also majestic, especially considering the scrutiny on the Blue was so intense he could’ve tied a knot in his drawstring and it would’ve started a Reddit group.

But we shouldn’t be pleased for him solely because he’s back dabbing on the haters and flinging Queenslanders like sacks of hand-me-downs in to a Vinnies bin.

Nope, the most heartening aspect was the MCG’s outpouring of affection, especially after Mitchell earlier revealed he’d considered shunning footy due to being genuinely troubled about his public perception.

Latrell Mitchell was all smiles in Game 2, and it was awesome to see. Picture: NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous

“I just feel like a lot of people hate me. They don’t know me,” Mitchell said to Nine before Game 2.

“A lot of people tend to paint me as the villain all the time so I tend to shut the doors on who I am as a person. That’s who I am at the moment because of how I’ve been sh*t on in my past time.”

Nobody’s saying Mitchell is above criticism, but he definitely gets over-served opprobrium simply because he’s outspoken and carries prior loading.

And while he may have annoyed your sensibilities or belligerently advanced over your winger like a Sherman tank, at the end of the day, a pro footballer shouldn’t have to weigh-up if playing footy is worth insecure gronks hectoring him on the internet.

Latrell Mitchell is the king of the kids.

Latrell Mitchell attends a footy clinic the day after Origin.

Furthermore, it would be refreshing to see these critics place more importance on stuff like the story about Mitchell rising at 6:40am the day after Origin to host a junior clinic in Taree rather than an opinion from three years ago they don’t agree with.

It might be hard for some to believe, but Mitchell is a human just like the rest of us, only with a huge fend and 76% kicking accuracy.

And after a career of people bugging over his every action - rightly or wrongly - seeing him return to adulation instead of condemnation was the most uplifting image of the night after him scooping up Reece Walsh and carefully lowering him like an infant in to a bath.

- Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad. He’s never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.