Latest news with #LatrellMitchell
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
NRL star Keaon Koloamatangi displays his toughness to line up for Rabbitohs - just DAYS after fracturing eye socket
Wayne Bennett has lauded Keaon Koloamatangi's toughness as he prepares to line up for South Sydney less than a week after fracturing his eye socket. The rapid-fire return gives Koloamatangi two games to reassert his State of Origin credentials, after missing NSW 's trip to Perth for game two with the game-ending injury suffered against Canterbury on Sunday. Koloamatangi had originally been a member of NSW's extended squad for Origin II and appears to be the next cab off the rank if Laurie Daley wants to tweak his 17 for the decider on July 9 in Sydney. The forward comes in from the extended squad to face Melbourne on Saturday and will be joined in the team by star fullback Latrell Mitchell, who is backing up from NSW's two-point loss. The Storm have ruled winger Xavier Coates out of the game at Accor Stadium but are likely to have his Queensland teammates Harry Grant and Trent Loiero on deck after they flew direct to Sydney from Perth after Origin. Fellow Origin representatives Stefano Utoikamanu and Cam Munster flew back to Melbourne and are at longer odds to make the trip to Sydney to face Koloamatangi and the Rabbitohs. '(Koloamatangi) didn't need any surgery and the doctor's quite confident (the injury) won't be a problem to him. He's confident and he's happy so we'll go ahead and let him play,' said South Sydney coach Bennett. 'He's a bit like Jye Gray the other night with a broken thumb, (he) played the whole second half (against the Bulldogs). 'You can't question the toughness and the want to play for the club as well. 'The club's in a good place if players want to play and they've got injuries or getting back a little bit earlier. They work really hard.' The news is not so good for recruit Lewis Dodd, who had been named to come in from reserve grade for the injured Jayden Sullivan but will be replaced at five-eighth by Jack Wighton. The axing raises further questions as to Dodd's future at the Rabbitohs, who have only started him in the halves once since he was lured from England on a salary of more than $600,000. Saturday's game will be the 44th time Bennett has coached against Storm mentor Craig Bellamy, breaking the record for most match-ups for two coaches since the grand final era began in 1954. To keep their top-eight tilt on track, the 14th-placed Rabbitohs must snap Bellamy's impressive 14-game winning streak against Bennett coached sides. '(Bellamy's teams) all do their jobs, they're really good at that. Whatever role you've got in the team, they do it,' he said.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Quite confident': Blues handed Origin boost after surprise news about Souths forward
Keaon Koloamatangi's hopes of earning a State of Origin recall for the Blues have been given a massive boost after he was named to return from injury in South Sydney's round 16 blockbuster against Melbourne on Saturday night. Koloamatangi fractured his eye socket in last week's loss to Canterbury and was expected to miss the Storm clash, despite being named in Wayne Bennett's extended squad. But the veteran coach confirmed on Friday that the Rabbitohs wrecking ball did not require surgery and would be elevated into Souths' 17-man squad for the home game at Accor Stadium. The news will come as a huge relief to the Bunnies, who will also welcome back Latrell Mitchell, with the star fullback set to back up from the Blues' two-point loss in Origin Game 2. Koloamatangi has been in destructive form since moving to play in the middle this season and Bennett hailed the forward's toughness after revealing he'd been given the green light to play Melbourne this weekend. "(Koloamatangi) didn't need any surgery and the doctor's quite confident (the injury) won't be a problem to him. He's confident and he's happy so we'll go ahead and let him play," Bennett told reporters. "He's a bit like Jye Gray the other night with a broken thumb, played the whole second half. You can't question the toughness and the wanting to play for the club as well. The club's in a good place if players want to play and they've got injuries or getting back a little bit earlier. They work really hard." Koloamatangi was named in the Blues' extended squad for Origin Game 2 but missed the trip to Perth after picking up the game-ending injury in the six-point loss to the Dogs. And he'll be keen to press his Origin claims for the series decider in Sydney on July 9, with NSW coach Laurie Daley alluding to potential changes after Wednesday night's defeat. Stefano Utoikamanu seems the NSW player most under threat of being replaced by the likes of Koloamatangi or Wests Tigers star Terrell May after an underwhelming display off the bench in Perth. The Blues interchange forward only had four runs for 41 metres and gave away a costly penalty for obstruction that saw a try to Blues teammate Nathan Cleary correctly chalked off. And Saturday's clash against Utoikamanu's Storm could be a straight shoot-out between the Blues hopefuls. Koloamatangi's blistering form for the Rabbitohs has led to growing calls for Daley to hand him an Origin recall after impressing in his one and only game for the Blues in the 2023 decider. And his inclusion for the Storm clash means he'll have two games to press his Origin claims, with Souths taking on the Dolphins in round 17 the following week. RELATED: Details emerge as Ezra Mam seen in post-match moment with Leniu Door wide open for Walsh as Ponga floated for shock QLD axing Andrew Johns airs complaint over Origin moment 'shouldn't be allowed' Melbourne have their own concerns for the match against the Rabbitohs, with Maroons winger Xavier Coates ruled out. Queensland skipper Cam Munster and Utoikamanu are also in some doubt after flying back to Melbourne, despite both being named in Craig Bellamy's starting side. While Maroons duo Harry Grant and Trent Loiero look good to go after they both flew directly to Sydney from Perth. with AAP
News.com.au
14 hours ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
‘He'll be playing': Latrell Mitchell to play for Souths on Saturday as Keaon Koloamatangi cleared to take on Storm
South Sydney has received a double boost with Latrell Mitchell set to back-up just three days after Origin, while influential front-rower Keaon Koloamatangi will also play despite initial fears he could need surgery on a nasty facial injury. While those two are key ins, the Rabbitohs will be without injured duo Cody Walker and Campbell Graham for another week, while coach Wayne Bennett also confirmed Lewis Dodd would not start at five-eighth against the Storm. Mitchell's inclusion is a big boost for a team fighting to stay in touch with the top eight, with the superstar fullback keen to play just days after the Blues were beaten in Perth. 'He'll be playing, he'll be captain of the team and he's all good,' Bennett said. 'It's really important for us with other players missing. He's happy and he wants to play, so that's good.' The Rabbitohs have endured a horror run of injuries this year, with Bennett revealing skipper Cam Murray is about to start running again as he eyes a return later this year from an achilles rupture. Koloamatangi has been huge for them since moving to the middle, with medical staff clearing him to play after he suffered a suspected fractured eye socket last week. Keaon Koloamatangi has been named on an extended bench for the Rabbitohs this week - could he play just one week after suffering an eye socket fracture? It’s not common but it’s been done before! Even if it isn’t quite this week I think SuperCoach/Fantasy players will be happy. — NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) June 17, 2025 'He didn't need any surgery and the doctor was quite confident that it won't be a problem for him,' Bennett said. 'He's happy and he's confident, so we'll go ahead and let him play. 'You can't question their toughness and their wanting to play for the club. They don't want to let the other players down if they can avoid that.' Bennett confirmed Walker had signed an extension at the club for 2026 and isn't concerned about the veteran five-eighth who has battled several soft tissue injuries. 'Cody should be back next week and Campbell should be back next week,' he said. 'They were close today, but they just weren't right. 'It just happens sometimes that you have a bad run with injuries. Most of them have been minor, so we're confident (Walker will be fine going forward).' Jack Wighton had a field day at left centre when the Rabbitohs went to Melbourne earlier in the year, but he'll shift to five-eighth and replace Dodd who was named in the halves but was unlikely to ever play there. 'I haven't really had a conversation with him because I told them on Tuesday that it probably wouldn't be the team anyway because I didn't know what was going on with Origin and other people's injuries,' Bennett explained. 'I only really announced the team this morning to the players, so they didn't know what they were doing. 'Cody trained with us on Wednesday and we thought he might have been playing.'
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Startling vision comes to light as NSW's massive mistake with Latrell laid bare
It's hard to blame Zac Lomax's poor goal-kicking for NSW's loss in State of Origin 2. But stats show he probably shouldn't have been given the important task of replacing Nathan Cleary in the first place. Vision has emerged of the moment Cleary refused to follow-through with a practice kick at the Blues' captain's run on Tuesday in Perth - the first sign something wasn't right. The NSW halfback felt a 'pop' in his groin during the session, and was later seen 'visualising' his goal-kicks rather than actually hitting them. Lomax was seen standing with Cleary and practicing his own kicks off the tee, and the Parramatta winger took over the job during Wednesday night's game. But stats from the 2025 NRL season have highlighted the fatal mistake NSW made in opting for Lomax ahead of Latrell Mitchell or Stephen Crichton. The moment NSW knew Nathan Cleary was busted 🤯 Details 👉 #SuperCoach #NRL — SuperCoach NRL (@SuperCoachNRL) June 19, 2025 Lomax has kicked 18 goals from 23 attempts this year at 78 per cent. It's a respectable figure, but it actually should have put him as the Blues' fourth-choice kicker. Cleary has kicked a staggering 40 out of 44 attempts (91 per cent), while Mitchell is 22 out of 26 (85 per cent) and Crichton is 36 out of 43 (84 per cent). The stats show Mitchell and Crichton were both arguably better options than Lomax, whose kicking percentage declined in his last few seasons with the Dragons. Who should kick goals for NSW in Game 3? 🤔The Blues have the luxury of having 3 of the top 5 most accurate goal-kickers in the NRL this season in their team, yet they are 3/10 with the boot this series 🥶Note that QLD has no kickers on this top 10 list 👀#NRL #Origin — Random Stats Guy (@randostatsguy) June 18, 2025 It's not known whether coach Laurie Daley would have had a say in who replaced Cleary as the Blues' goal-kicker, but it's more likely the players decided amongst themselves. It might be a case of Mitchell and Crichton not wanting the extra responsibility, but that would be hard to justify seeing as they both captain their teams at club level. If someone simply had a look at the stats and figured out who's been kicking them better, it might have resulted in Mitchell or Crichton getting the nod over Lomax. In all fairness to Lomax, he was kicking them sweetly in last year's Origin series. He nailed five out of seven in Game 2, and three out of three in the decider (including a number from the sideline). But the cold-hard facts are NSW scored more tries in the 26-24 loss on Wednesday night (five to Queensland's four), but Lomax only converted two of them. Lomax also missed a sitter in Game 1 after Cleary gave up the kicking duties following three misses of his own. It didn't cost the Blues in the series opener, but it certainly did on Wednesday night. While none of Lomax's three misses were easy, it reinforced the fact that goal-kicking is such an important factor. And Phil Gould highlighted that on Wednesday night. "In the end they've been beaten on goal-kicking," the former NSW coach said on Channel 9. "That's what it was. They scored four tries in the second half and kicked one conversion ... Queensland had the benefit of a penalty in the first half and that's been the difference." RELATED: Details emerge after Mam and Leniu spotted in post-match moment Door open for Reece Walsh as Slater urged to axe Queensland hero Whether or not Lomax retains the kicking duties for Game 3 remains to be seen. Cleary has declared he'll be right for the Panthers' next game in Round 17 against the Bulldogs, which would put him on track for the Origin decider. But the extent of his groin injury hasn't come to light, and there's every chance he'll need a stint on the sidelines.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Joker and the Thief win the night: How a star duo helped Queensland play their oldest tune
However, the Maroons played smarter in the first half with their glut of possession, while the Blues charged one out at the defensive line with all the grace of a well-hurled bowling ball. The NSW forwards seemed more intent on winning a battle of collisions than securing a victory. Rugby league's two best centres, Latrell Mitchell and Stephen Crichton, were starved of the ball, given the penalties and wet, greasy conditions. The game was, therefore, decided by players with the No.8 and higher on their backs and the Maroons edged NSW in this area. Incoming forward Kurt Capewell, a veteran of Origin, proved to be a welcome gap-plugger, run-stopper and back-up man. The Queensland pack found the go forward that had been missing in Brisbane. It wasn't as if NSW did not expect a Queensland fightback. A text message from the Blues dressing-room minutes before kick off read: 'We need to get through the opening onslaught and we should be OK.' NSW actually scored the first try when the Penrith halves combination that won four consecutive NRL premierships saw Nathan Cleary passing to Jarome Luai who grubbered through for another Panther and NSW's best, Brian To'o, to score. But the Blues frustration with penalties and dropped ball grew, resulting in a first-half completion rate of 56%. Queenslanders see omens everywhere at Origin time, including in the pre-match entertainment at Perth's Optus Stadium. Wolfmother sang 'Joker and the Thief'. Cameron Munster, the man of the match is known as a joker, although he wore his game face in his debut as captain. Harry Grant, his Melbourne teammate, played the role of thief, stealing metres from dummy half, including setting up Munster's try to give the Maroons a 20-6 lead. Queensland coach Billy Slater surprised by starting with his nominated team, despite leaving his best two forwards from the first game – Jeremiah Nanai and Pat Carrigan – on the bench. Carrigan's presence was needed when some of the inexperienced Maroons tired. Slater looked composed throughout, compared to the lead-up when, under sustained criticism, his normal unflappable self looked extremely flapped. Once again, the negative pre-match publicity fed the Queensland underdog psyche, with Munster revealing afterwards that the Maroons were motivated to 'turn up for our coach'. In the long history of Origin, how many times have we seen Queensland, when facing defeat, claw back, in the adrenalised manner of someone fighting off death? Still, the result would have been different if two of the conversion attempts of NSW winger Zac Lomax had not hit the uprights. Loading Similarly, in the Brisbane game, Cleary failed with three goal attempts, although in that match it did not matter. In the final analysis, the Maroons out-hustled, outwitted and outlasted the Blues, and we now move to Homebush for the decider on July 9. Unexpected, maybe. Unbelievable, perhaps. Unfinished, certainly.
