NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler says he’s so sick of the “hysteria” around Latrell Mitchell’s tackle on Joey Manu that he could “vomit in my mouth”.
Amid a week of seemingly endless storylines stemming from the now-infamous incident in Friday’s spiteful clash between the Roosters and the Rabbitohs, Fittler believed the saga was now venturing into dangerous territory as he looked to redirect focus where it mattered, on Manu.
Sitting in hospital after serious surgery and with three plates inserted into his face, it will be a while until the Kiwi centre is ready to grace a footy field again. But Fittler said it was time to leave the drama of Friday night behind and support Manu through his recovery and into next season.
“Totally,” Fittler said when asked if the incident had been blown to hysteria.
“It’s been spoken about so much, to give it more air-time nearly makes me vomit in my mouth.
“It’s all irrelevant really. At the end of the day, once you miss the opportunity to play in the semis, it wouldn’t matter if it was 10 weeks.
“One of the important parts everyone missing is Joseph Manu and how he is. I texted Fitzy and asked how he was, and he says he’s in really good spirits. He said his face obviously doesn’t look good at the moment but that will be swollen for a while.
“But it’s a good sign that everything will be okay. It’s a nasty injury but he will get over it.”
With reports of social media abuse aimed at Mitchell, an “emotional” phone call between the Roosters and NRL guru Phil Gould and countless opinions obscuring the matter, Fittler said it was time to let the matter go before more damage could be done.
“Of course, because it’s Latrell, now there’s another part of it with the Roosters and Gus, it’s just crazy.
“The more legs everyone gives it, in today’s society it nearly becomes unhealthy given what happens on social media and all that stuff.”
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