South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou is fed up with questions over the health of superstar Latrell Mitchell.
The gun fullback – who’s probably the most talked about player in rugby league – has not played since suffering a serious hamstring injury in round five.
Mitchell flew to America to work with a renowned hamstring specialist, but is yet to return to the playing field despite returning to Sydney a fortnight ago.
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New South Wales was hoping to pick him for the second State of Origin match, to be played in Perth on June 26. But those plans were scuppered when the Rabbitohs didn’t name Mitchell to play against the Dragons on Friday night.
On Wednesday, Demetriou bristled when journalists questioned him about Mitchell’s fitness, and the fact he will miss Origin II.
“I’m not going to discuss my conversations with Latrell,” Demetriou said.
“Latrell knows where he’s at, I know where he’s at, and we’ll leave it at that.
“I think it’s a bit unfair on Latrell, as a guy who’s going through nearly 10 weeks of rehab. He battled at the start of the season with a knee, and that led to a hamstring injury.
“That’s where it’s at. It’s not on Latrell that they (NSW) lost Origin I. It’s not on Latrell to get back any sooner than he’s capable of playing.
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“It’s not fair to put him out there until he can do the job he knows he can do.
“I would love Latrell to play Origin, and Latrell would love to play, we all would. But unfortunately the timing isn’t quite right.”
Demetriou hopes to have Mitchell available for the round 16 game against Parramatta, on July 2.
If he makes it through that contest unscathed Mitchell will be available for Blues selection for the third Origin game, which will be played in Brisbane on July 13.
“It’s not about whether he’s playing Origin or he’s playing for us, it’s about whether he’s fit to play rugby league at NRL level, let alone Origin level. And he’s not,” Demetriou said.
“If he had a broken arm and it was six weeks (out injured) we wouldn’t be asking these questions.
“As far as I’m concerned he is going through his injury recovery. Nothing has changed for us.
“We hope to get him back and firing and fit and ready for Origin III if they need him.”
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