The fierce 114-year rivalry between the Roosters and Rabbitohs has delivered a trove of epic dramas and, according to rugby league guru Phil Gould, the Latrell Mitchell–Joseph Manu firestorm will be superseded by a new row this week.
The league’s only foundation clubs will square off for the first time since Mitchell clobbered Manu in a sickening hit in round 24 of last season, leaving his former teammate with a broken cheekbone and requiring three metal plates to repair his face.
Manu’s season was done and Mitchell’s was, too, when the match review committee dealt the megastar fullback a six-game ban, later reduced to five.
READ MORE: Gallen’s demand to NRL amid obstruction ‘farce’
READ MORE: ‘Nightmare’ strikes Verstappen’s F1 title defence
READ MORE: Final-lap heartbreak for ‘gutted’ McLaughlin
The corresponding fixture of the 2005 season was also rocked by a wild encounter, which saw the Roosters’ David Shillington and Rabbitohs’ Shannon Hegarty exchange a barrage of brutal punches.
The Roosters-Rabbitohs rivalry has played host to many high-profile steals on the player market. The Roosters poached the legendary Ron Coote from the Rabbitohs in 1972 and, in more recent times, the Tricolours swooped on teen prodigy Joseph Suaalii.
Rugby league die-hards will never forget some of the blow-outs that have fuelled the rivalry, such as South Sydney’s 60-8 hammering of the Bondi-based club in round 20 of the 2020 season.
Stream the NRL premiership 2022 live and free on 9Now.
Amid the hype surrounding the Mitchell-Manu rematch at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday night, Gould has revisited the historical context of the infamous collision.
“I think Latrell and Manu are a very small percentage of the animosity between the Rabbitohs and the Roosters, which has been going on for a long time,” Gould said on Nine’s 100% Footy.
“As one who enjoyed playing with both clubs or being involved with both clubs, that’ll be the least of the animosity. The Latrell-Manu thing is a product of the animosity, and the way it was treated afterwards is a product of the animosity that has raged on for 100 years.
“Something else will happen to replace that this week. You watch. Something else will happen in the game, and Latrell and Manu will be the least of anyone’s thoughts.”
Neither the hefty suspension nor public backlash has led Mitchell to changing his gung-ho approach to football.
“I don’t think I need to (change the way I play); I think the game needs to change,” Mitchell told 9News in February.
“We may as well play Oztag.”
Mitchell’s inflammatory style was then on show when he riled up Storm supporters in Melbourne last Thursday night, suggesting they’d been silenced by his long-range field goal that sent the match to golden point.
The rugby league world is now waiting to see if the 24-year-old will on Saturday again be at the centre of more Roosters-Rabbitohs theatrics.
“They call it a book of feuds for a reason,” Gould said of rugby league’s greatest rivalry.
“They’ve been feuding for a long, long time.
“Something always happens when the Rabbitohs play the Roosters.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!