SEN’s Scott Sattler has urged Latrell Mitchell to make his top priority in 2024 returning to his career-best form and being obsessed with the game once again.
Mitchell had a rollercoaster 2023 season after missing a good portion of the year with a hamstring injury, his return to action was plagued with inconsistent form and a frustrating suspension to finish the year.
The 26-year-old recently opened up on the 2023 season and admitted he was considering walking away after a mental health battle due to all the attention placed on him.
Mitchell’s importance to not only his club but representative sides cannot be understated but how can he re-discover his career-best form in 2024?
“When he’s on and he likes to play that villain to the crowd, that’s when Latrell is at his best,” Sattler said on SEN 1170 Sportsday.
“If you want to be good at anything or the best, you’ve got to be obsessed with your primary goal, if rugby league is his primary goal he’s got to be obsessed with it.
“There’s your family and friends that’s one area of your life that you address, then you’ve got what people call your third place and for him that’s going out to his farm in Taree.
“But when he comes back and he’s fully focused on his rugby league that’s what it’s got to be, his obsession.
“If Latrell is in that obsessed frame (of) mind, that’s when he’s at his most destructive, that’s the player we seen at the Roosters… dominating Origin then he went to Souths and he’s been stifled by injury and out of form, whatever it may be.
“The minute that he gets obsessed with being one of the best players in the game and doing what he needs to do at South Sydney, that’s when we’re going to see the best of Latrell.
“I think we will see the best of Latrell because he’s getting to that mature age now, he’s got other responsibilities off the field… and now he’s got a responsibility to be a leader.”
Mitchell will play his first game of 2024 for the Indigenous All Star team in the NRL All Stars game on Saturday February 17th in Townsville.