The NRL 360 panel are divided as to whether recalled NSW star Latrell Mitchell will be able to prove the difference on both sides of the ball on Wednesday night.
On the eve of the Blues must-win clash in Melbourne, the panel were debating whether Mitchell will be able to come into the side and make an immediate impact.
Mitchell hasn’t played Origin since 2021 due to injuries and form, but the Rabbitohs fullback is playing some of the best football of his career.
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The 27-year-old is one of five changes for the Blues and former NSW player Braith Anasta backed Mitchell to be the most important.
“The hunter or the hunted, I think that’s what it’s going to be like tomorrow night. I think he’s either going to really own it and dominate or they’re going to target him,” Anasta said.
“The biggest difference where they need to be better between game one and two is the moments, Queensland nailed those moments and we didn’t.
“Latrell has nailed big moments in Origin before, he’s nailed big moments in clubland, he’s a player that when he needs to stand up he has that ability that special players have, he does have that, and that’s rare. If he can deliver that tomorrow night, we can win.”
Journalist Dave Riccio however pointed out that Mitchell would be playing in the centres on Wednesday night.
“Latrell’s best work over the last couple of weeks, and what has got him into this Blues team, has been at fullback,” he said.
“He’s touching the ball a lot more than what he would at centre. It’s so important for Luai and Moses to get him into the game.
“Again, his influence for South Sydney has been touching it and kicking it and being involved in try assists from fullback.”
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But Anasta said this was in fact a positive for NSW.
“I think it’s better for him. He’s going to be fresher. With a guy like Latrell, just give him early ball, because he attracts two or three defenders, one-on-one he’s impossible (to stop),” he said.
“Give him early ball and he attracts two or three defenders then it’s the next play-the-ball you’re going to win and it’s the halves that are going to benefit… it opens it up for the rest of the guys to run.
“He is such a big threat that he’ll make it easier for the guys around him which makes them more effective.”
But that prompted Maroons icon Gorden Tallis to question whether Mitchell was going to be willing to do the work off the ball.
“When he’s got the footy, he’s that (good). It’s when he doesn’t have the footy (in the effort areas), like coming off his own tryline,” Tallis said.
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“Queensland need to finish our sets and make sure New South Wales are starting off their tryline because it’s not a part of the game that everybody loves doing.”
Anasta responded: “What’s going to help Latrell is he’s got workers around him. Edwards, To’o, Crichton, these guys are just machines, which takes a bit of pressure off Latrell in those effort areas and gives him energy and potency in attack.”
“There’s also that pressure of ‘if I don’t play well, we don’t win’. That’s a lot of pressure, not too many players have carried that pressure,” Tallis said.
“I think we’re a better chance of winning if he plays well, he doesn’t have to be the best player on the field for us to win,” Anasta responded.