New South Wales coach Brad Fittler has revealed the three bolters who could replace Latrell Mitchell in the State of Origin backline.
South Sydney has announced Mitchell will be sidelined for the next two months after injuring a hamstring against the Dragons on Saturday.
That timeframe has him returning from the injury only days before Origin I on June 8 in Sydney.
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While Mitchell is the incumbent left centre for the winning Blues, Fittler isn’t likely to throw him into the interstate arena fresh off a two-month stint in the casualty ward.
Speaking to 9News, the NSW coach revealed three young stars who could step up and fill those boots.
“Most centres these days play left or right, so they get in those habits,” Fittler said.
“The ones at the moment who are playing on the left-hand side are Bradman Best, who’s been in the junior system a long time; Stephen Crichton, who can play left… and Matt Burton is another one, who is five-eighth at the moment for the Dogs but who played centre incredibly well last year for Penrith.”
Best, Crichton, and Burton were all junior representative stars but are yet to pull on an Origin jumper at senior level.
For Mitchell, it will be a bitter blow if injury forces him to surrender the Blues jumper he fought hard to regain after being axed by Fittler three years ago.
The coach is holding out hope his born-again Origin superstar can take his place in game one of this year’s series.
“Just knowing how much it meant to Latrell last year to get back in the team, and how well he performed, I’m holding out that eight weeks might turn into six weeks,” he said.
“Every player is different, we treat every player different.
“We picked Tom Trbojevic a couple of years ago… he came back (from injury) for one game, and he did so well we brought him into the (Origin) team and he was excellent.
“Just sit back and we’ll see what happens with Latrell.”
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