The moment Latrell Mitchell’s Origin frustrations finally boiled over

Queensland pressured Latrell Mitchell throughout the Origin series – and the NSW centre’s frustrations finally boiled over in the 64th minute on Wednesday night.

Mitchell was involved in a couple of melees in the second half, including a push and shove with Josh Papali’i after Brian To’o was taken high, and another altercation with Valentine Holmes, who took objection to Mitchell diving into the back of an unsuspecting Tom Dearden as he lay on the ground.

But Mitchell was furious when Holmes tackled him around the ankles, and immediately jumped to his feet to pin down his Queensland rival.

Cameras captured Mitchell making sure he let Holmes know how he felt before the pair continued to argue and push each other as they jogged to the other end of the field where play had continued.

The Maroons forced Mitchell to do a lot of work in defence, and were always up quickly to cut down his threat with the ball in open space.

“When I tackled him, I must have slipped down and caught his ankle,” Holmes said. “I didn’t mean to do that, but he thought it was in a dangerous position.

“I’m not out there trying to hurt anyone, and I can understand his frustration. I’m pretty close with Latrell, I’ve played many games alongside him, and many games against him.

“But my main focus was to try and be in his face all night. He played well the first two games. He’s so hard to handle, and very silky out the back.

“I played in three different positions this series, and to go on the right side against To’o, who is a world-class winger, then ‘Trell’ and Angus Crichton, it was a difficult task because they played well all series. But ‘Bobby’ [Rob Toia] and I were up for it.”

Mitchell and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow were issued concerning act notices for a lifting tackle and stray boot to the groin respectively in a separate incident in the Origin decider.

Mitchell’s lightning hands allowed To’o to score four tries in the opening two games, but the Maroons had plenty of numbers marking the Blues’ dangerous left edge in Sydney.

Meanwhile, To’o said he was always going to play in game three, despite suffering a grade-two lateral ligament tear in his left knee less than a fortnight before the decider.

“If I can trust myself to perform, even though I’m battered and bruised, I’ll back myself,” To’o said. “Unless my leg is broken, I’m still able to play.”

Prop Payne Haas was the other Blues player who went into game three on a limited preparation because of a back injury. He said he was unsure if he would back up for the Broncos on Sunday against the Titans. Brisbane have the bye the following weekend.

“There’s a bit of swelling [in the lower back] and I’ve kept trying to play with it all year,” Haas said. “I think it’s finally caught up with me, to be honest. I’ll assess myself the next few days and go from there.”

The other injury concern for NSW was Liam Martin, who required a painkilling injection at half-time for a right wrist injury. Martin was due to undergo scans on Thursday afternoon. Penrith coach Ivan Cleary was in the sheds and spent time examining Martin’s wrist.

“Ivan just asked me if I diagnosed my own injury,” Martin said. “Hopefully it’s not too bad. I was holding the ball and copped a shoulder on it. It was sore for a few minutes, I got it needled at half-time, just for peace of mind.”

NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now

Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.