SEN’s Michelle Bishop has revealed why Latrell Mitchell peformed well below his lofty standards in South Sydney’s 32-12 Preliminary Final loss against the Penrith Panthers.
Mitchell arguably had his worst game of the season in the preliminary final as he missed four tackles, run for just 91 metres and failed to have a line break for the entire night.
Bishop revealed that he and a number of Rabbitohs stars were battling serious injuries which hampered their overall performance.
“Latrell Mitchell’s performance against the Panthers on Saturday night has come under scrutiny,” Bishop said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“He had little impact in such a huge game and it had massive ramifications.
“It ended their season and denied them a shot at the title.
“He had painkilling injections before the game and at half time on rib cartillage damage.
“He wasn’t the only one as the doctor had to inject Campbell Graham who had to play with broken ribs.
“Jai Arrow had a groin issue and we saw him struggle towards the back end of the game.
“(The Rabbitohs players) were brave.”
The Rabbitohs shot out to a 12-0 lead early but were eventually hauled in by a strong Panthers side who never looked like losing once they levelled the scores on the shadows of half time.
SEN’s Greg Alexander questioned some of the Bunnies’ injured stars playing under significant injuries.
“If you’re that injured where you think you might let your team down, you don’t play,” Alexander said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“Rib injuries are painful.
“You’re in pain all week.
“It’s about whether you can actually do what you need to do on the field.”
The Parramatta Eels and Panthers both have several players under injury clouds ahead of the Grand Final on Sunday.