State of Origin 2024: Mitch Barnett credits the Warriors for reviving his football career

Dumped by the Knights and with his career hanging by a thread Mitch Barnett was ready to quit rugby league, but the NSW debutant says a new club, and some belief, has turned it all around, writes FATIMA KDOUH.

SOO 2024 RD01 New South Wales v Queensland - Mitchell Barnett. Picture: NRL Photos

NSW debutant Mitch Barnett has revealed his switch from Newcastle to a ‘club that believed in him’ has been the catalyst for his transformation into an State of Origin star.

Ahead of next Wednesday’s anticipated Origin decider, Barnett opened up on his mid-season switch to the Warriors and just how close he came to being forced into retirement.

Barnett’s unlikely Origin debut as a 30-year old at Suncorp Stadium almost never happened.

Only 18 months ago, the fiery Warriors enforcer struggled through a neck injury so bad that completing everyday tasks, like driving a car, was too painful.

What Barnett didn’t know at the time was that a vertebrae fusion he had back in 2020 during his time at Newcastle, after an innocuous tackle caused nerve damage and a herniated disc, had failed.

The symptoms flared after suffering a crusher tackle in round three last year.

Mitch Barnett will make his Blues debut in Game 3. Picture: NRL Photos

“It (neck) was stable, but there was movement in there and it hadn’t been fused properly. So there was a big gap between the vertebrae,” Barnett said.

“It was crazy. I wrestled with it, because I was training every day and it just wasn’t getting better and it was impacting my life off the field with the pain.

“Even just turning left and right while driving a car.”

The advice from specialists was gut wrenching but sobering.

If the second fusion surgery was unsuccessful, his NRL career would be over.

“I was pretty close to retiring. My eldest son, he was just over 12 months old. We were over there (New Zealand) and I was in a lot of pain,” Barnett said.

“Some of the advice I was getting from surgeons was probably pushing me that way.

“I was probably more persuaded than close to retiring. It was a safer option for me.”

There was also the matter of his young family.

As much as Barnett loved rugby league, what he wanted more than anything was to be able to pick up or play with Nate, the eldest of his two sons.

“This is an extreme case, but you always want to be able to play with your kids. That’s what I was thinking about at the time,” Barnett said.

But after numerous ‘conversations’ with multiple specialists Barnett went under the knife again in 2023. This time, the surgery saved his NRL career.

Once I got over the initial (prognosis) that I was safe to play rugby league, that changed my mind in an instant,” Barnett said.

“I got through to the end of the year, and played a prelim. We had a good year as a club … playing Origin now.

“Yeah, what a turn around, everyone has their ups and downs in rugby league.”

And Barnett knows the highs and lows more than most.

During a six-week ban for whacking Penrith’s Chris Smith in the head with his elbow, Barnett was released from the final year of his contract at the Knights to join the Warriors in 2023.

Barnett had a tough exit from Newcastle.

That moment of madness in 2022 came with the unwanted label and headlines of being a thug and rumours he was on the nose with Knights coach Adam O’Brien.

But Barnett has worked hard at the Warriors, under the guise of Andrew Webster to shed that reputation. And it’s a move that has led him to the bright lights of the Origin cauldron.

“I don’t want to create any conflict, but to go to a club and have a coach who believes in me and really love what I bring to the table helped as well,” Barnett said.

“The other thing is having kids, finally wanting to grow up and mature.

“My wife is always there through thick and thin, good and bad.

“I just didn’t want to be known for that. I felt like I always had more to give to the game.

“Webby, Cameron George (Warriors CEO) have been unbelievable. They believe in me.

“I have given them a reason to believe in me as well.

“I am just extremely grateful that my feet have made me land where I am. That’s why you’re seeing the best version of me.”

Barnett’s Blues teammates are also seeing the best of him too.

Barnett is a reformed man at the Warriors. Picture: NRL Photos

He made the ultimate sacrifice, missing the birth of his second son, Zane, to train with the NSW squad after he was named as a reserve for the series opener.

Coach Michael Maguire has re-paid that commitment trusting Barnett to help the Blues claim the Origin shield from the bench, ahead of Haumole Olakau’atu, on Wednesday night.

Even though Barnett might be a reformed man, he’ll tap into the mongrel that earned him the reputation of a hard man that can err close to the red line.

“He (Madge) said I earned it. I know for myself I have earned it. I have been putting my best foot forward at club land,” Barnett said.

“I know my capabilities. That physical side of the game, I believe it comes naturally to me.

“It’s a big game, there is going to be emotion in it.

“For me, I’ve been around a long time so I have learnt what works for me and what doesn’t. “They pick you on what you’re doing so there is no point in me trying to be something that I’m not.”