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South Sydney will be without Latrell Mitchell after his high shot on Storm’s Sua Fa’alogo that resulted in the Rabbitohs star being placed on report and sin-binned.
The 24-16 defeat was a third-straight loss for Wayne Bennett’s side, despite a double to Jack Wighton, who sent a reminder to State of Origin selectors.
Earlier, Sandon Smith starred for the Roosters, scoring 22 points in their crushing 46-18 win over the Dragons, while Newcastle’s season went from bad to worse as the Warriors made it five wins for the year with the 26-12 win.
Returning to the No.1 jersey for the first time this year, Mitchell raced out of the line and launched himself at Fa’alogo midway through the second half.
The star fullback was called out, and after a Bunker review, he was sin-binned and placed on report, as the Storm winger failed his HIA.
He has since been suspended for two matches, which he can reduce to one with an early plea.
Channel Nine’s Johnathan Thurston argued Mitchell will be in trouble with the Match Review Panel.
“He comes flying in, pretty aggressively,” Thurston said on Channel Nine.
“Direct contact to the head, I think he does have a case to answer – it could be a couple of weeks.”
Rabbitohs assistant coach Ben Hornby fronted the media, standing in for coach Wayne Bennett, who lost his front tooth during the day, and was hopeful that the reviewing officers would see the mitigation.
He said he thought Mitchell tried to compensate for Fa’alogo’s low body height.
“He (Fa’alogo) was falling and I thought Latrell tried to lower his level but when you’re watching in slo-mo it obviously looks a lot worse than what it does when it’s split-second stuff so the judiciary will take care of it and we’ll live with it,” Hornby said.
Mitchell found an unlikely ally in Cameron Munster, who came to his defence during the Storm’s post-match press conference.
“It’s slippery out there, it’s wet, there’s a lot of speed. Sua’s very quick, Latrell’s very big. I don’t know where you want Latrell to go there,” he said.
“Sua’s obviously trying to engage him before the pass and he’s slipped over.
“I feel like sometimes it’s hard to get out of those positions when you’re fully committed to the contact.
“There wasn’t a heap of malice by the look of it.
“I know where the game is trying to go by protecting players, but as long as we keep it consistent around the game I don’t have a problem with it.”
Sin-binning aside, Souths’ errors at crucial times proved costly at the end of the night, as the side struggled to get any momentum after the break, in a low-scoring game, although it was a big improvement on the Good Friday loss to the Bulldogs.
Some of the mistakes came off the boot of Mitchell himself, who struggled with distance and direction.
Latrell Mitchell of the Rabbitohs is sent to the sin-bin. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
The Storm conceded just one try in the second half, with Eliesa Katoa and Tyran Wishart crossing after the break.
Wighton’s second with minutes to go made it a try in each half, but it was only a consolation as the Rabbitohs came up short.
Five-eighth Sandon Smith has given a sign of how dangerous the Roosters could be later in the season when they get Sam Walker back and some consistency in the halves.
He led the Roosters to a commanding ANZAC Day victory with a dominant five-eighth performance.
In just his 37th NRL appearance, the 22-year-old scored two tries and produced a great try assist, amassing 22 points.
The haul was almost half of his team’s total in the 46-18 victory, with the win getting the Chooks off the bottom of the table.
He scored the first try of the game after two and a half minutes, and that would set the tone for a dominant afternoon.
For his second try later in the first half, he made the experience Clint Gutherson look foolish; the Rooster didn’t even have to throw the dummy, and the Dragon let him run straight past to score under the post.
After his return from the sin bin for a high tackle, he soon had the ball on the string once again, with a perfectly placed kick for skipper James Tedesco to score as the Roosters stormed away for the 46-18 win.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson praised how his developing five-eighth stepped up and even dealt with adversity.
“His positioning was in the right spot, and you can see he has got really great vision,” he said.
“When he plays like that, he sees a lot.
“To handle 10 minutes (in the bin) and then come back on and continue that was really nice.”
Sandon Smith of the Roosters celebrates a try. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
There was one moment to forget, for the man of the match and Ashton-Collier Spirit of ANZAC Medal winner.
He was sin-binned for a high tackle just after halftime and could come under further scrutiny from the judiciary.
Considered by many as the clear favourites to take out the premiership, it was the second straight week Craig Bellamy’s men had delivered disappointing performances.
After the upset loss to the Dolphins, the Storm only just managed to contain Souths.
The Storm actually had the better statistics at halftime, with a possession count of 54-46%, 104-85 runs, 4-1 line breaks and 25-13 tackle breaks, with Souths making 25-13 missed tackles.
However, the scoreline was just 10-10 at the break, and Michael Ennis was shocked.
“Given what we have seen from Melbourne at different times this season, and how they pile on points – it’s been anything but that,” Ennis said on Fox League.
“They have had an enormous amount of possession.”
Despite it being scrappy and never really looking in control, Storm coach Craig Bellamy was still happy with his team’s defensive effort, admitting Souths made them work hard for the win.
“We had a lot of field position and probably our attack wasn’t quite as fluent as we would have liked but I thought we defended a bit better,” Bellamy said.
“I thought Souths were really brave, the amount of defence they did and they were really competitive in tough situations and tough conditions too.”
It was an uphill battle for St George Illawarra right from the start as the Roosters played the possession game, doing a good job of starving their opponents.
The score was 20-6 at the break, but the Dragons had no ball, with a 64-36% possession count in favour of the Roosters in addition to 5-0 line breaks, 104-62 runs and the Red V making 202-132 tackles in the first 40 minutes.
The Dragons did score two tries in the second half to Kyle Flanagan and Tyrell Sloan, but the coach admitted that all that defending in the first half took its toll, as the Roosters surged to a 28-point win.
“The first half cooked us … We had just 29 per cent of possession,” Dragons coach Shane Flanagan said.
“I could tell at halftime we were looking for answers and we were out on our feet.”
With Reece Walsh’s injury almost certainly ruling him out of the first State of Origin, Newcastle fullback Kalyn Ponga is the frontrunner to replace him in the Maroons No.1 jersey.
Although his form has been far from a representative player this year. It was a frustrating first half for Newcastle, as they crossed twice only to have the points chalked off by the Bunker.
Captain Ponga, who is considered a leader in the side, had just eight first-half runs for 65 metres, three missed tackles and an error.
During the Fox League halftime show, Kevin Walters admitted he needs to show more on the field.
“Ponga has been a bit quiet,” he said.
“I think he needs to get himself in the games up the short sides – that’s the best way for Newcastle to move forward.
“Get him some one-on-ones or he can create some two-on-ones, and I think they can get some tries from that.”
He wasn’t the only player struggling with coach Adam O’Brien admitting to struggling for answers in the club’s longest losing streak for nearly three years.
“We’re down on confidence, no doubt. But it’s not going to turn for us – we’ve got to make it happen,” O’Brien said.
“Some of it is some personnel. We’ve got some young guys out there with our experienced guys missing. Some confidence and connection stuff.
“If it were an easy answer, it’d be fixed by now.”
Two weeks ago, the Roosters forward came under fire for an elbow to the throat of Brisbane’s Adam Reynolds. While it was dealt with on the field, he avoided suspension.
Now, he has come under more fire for repeatedly contacting the head of Lachlan Illias while trying to fend him off early in the first half.
“If he was a defender, he would have been penalised,” Fox League’s Greg Alexander said during commentary.
“He palms him in the face, pushes him again in the face, then the elbow over the top and forearm to the neck and the head.
“If he was a defender, he might have found himself in the bin.”
With firebrands like Victor Radley and Spencer Leniu in the team, not to mention the former front rower Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, it seems Trent Robinson isn’t very good at calming his forwards down – in fact, he has admitted he likes his forwards to be fired up.
But it’s only going to be a matter of time before Crichton really hurts someone, not to mention the double standards that Brandy raised.
It’s a good point, too, what punishment would he have copped as a defender?
– with AAP
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