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Centres of excellence: Is the Blues’ most effective tactic still alive without Latrell?
By Dan Walsh
“Well, we had a move called ‘Latrell’, so Stephen might adjust to that … but we might have to change the name,” Brad Fittler quipped at Adelaide Airport.
Just quietly, we had a game-day story on Latrell ready to go, too. Cracking photo as well, given the man himself had been full of swagger, vim and vinegar in his return to NSW camp.
Given Mitchell’s evolution as a fullback at Redfern – which this season has seen him link repeatedly for Campbell Graham’s try-scoring runs on the right when Mitchell had previously been joined to Cody Walker’s hip on the left – he dropped a tantalising line in the water early in the week.
“Wait and see, bra, can’t tell the Queenslanders everything,” Mitchell grinned when asked if he would be given a similar roving licence to that of right-centre Tom Trbojevic, who romped all over the Maroons the last time they played Origin together in 2021.
Now Mitchell is out. The “Latrell” move, at the very least, gets a name change and Stephen Crichton comes in.
All things going to plan, so will Trbojevic.
“I don’t think that’ll change anything in terms of what I do and when or if I come in,” Trbojevic said on Monday.
The Manly star has struggled at times this season, and apologised (because he’s a Trbojevic) for being unable to fully explain how and why he knows when and where to come in from his edge, running in concert with James Tedesco and Nathan Cleary.
The Blues have never looked better than in that record 50-6 demolition job in Townsville, when Trbojevic claimed man of the match, scored two tries on the right edge, another on the left and set Mitchell up for another try.
Trbojevic’s 24 touches that night were roughly double the usual 12-16 an NRL centre racks up in a game, while his GPS reading of 7227 metres covered was just one less than Tedesco, a comparison virtually unheard of between centres and fullbacks.
Queensland coach Billy Slater, arguably the best No.1 in history, was commentating for Channel Nine all the while. The fullback in him marvelled at the Blues’ game plan, the Maroon within turned pale every time Trbojevic touched the ball.
“Tom Trbojevic is not playing his regular position,” an increasingly exasperated Slater said when Trbojevic featured in yet another first-half try. “They need to adjust their defensive line and get more numbers over to his side of the field.”
Identifying Trbojevic’s in-field incursions has been one thing, since Andrew Johns first plotted them out midway through the 2019 series – Trbojevic scoring his first Origin hat-trick as a result as NSW came from 1-0 down to claim the shield.
Stopping them is another. NRL sides, most notably Melbourne, have found success in swamping Trbojevic – who has not managed to hit the same heights as that breathtaking 2021 campaign.
Tedesco’s clubmate Joey Manu has played to similar tactics at the Roosters in recent years. The difference at Origin level is that everyone is elite, everyone’s a threat, and a roving Trbojevic eases one of the rare criticisms occasionally found in the state skipper’s game – he tries to do too much, too often.
“You’d be mad not to bring Tommy in, right? It’s all about picking your times,” Tedesco said. “Tommy’s had a lot of success here coming into the middle and that’s the fullback role, and it suits him.
“It doesn’t change much for me – actually it’s pretty good for my game. I find myself either getting up in support of those guys like Turbo or Latrell, sniffing around for an opportunity.
“Or I get going on the play before or after, usually trying to get a quick play-the-ball if it’s before or creating something.”
Mitchell’s absence, of course, takes away a key focal point for Queensland’s defence to worry about, to the point veteran Val Holmes was switched from the Maroons’ right to left to line up on his World Cup teammate. In-form Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow stands opposite Trbojevic accordingly.
Fittler’s Blues have been noticeably defence-minded in camp, Johns lamenting, tongue-in-cheek, that “it bores the shit out of me, but that’s what wins Origin”.
Trbojevic is of a similar mind, just as he was in 2021. In Townsville, he made more appearances on the left edge in 80 minutes than he had during the Blues’ entire 10 days of preparation for the game.
“You might see a bit of me coming in, but it all depends how the game of footy is going, what we’re doing and where we’re landing on the field,” he said.
Tom Trbojevic and Nathan Cleary celebrate one of his three tries in Townsville two years ago.Credit: Getty
“You’re trying to read that and pick your moments. I’m not someone that gets pinned down on one side of the field. I’ll do my role out there at centre, that’s what has to come first.
“And honestly, in attack there’s a lot of similarities to how I play fullback. Defensively is the training I really have to focus on. That’s where all my reps and extras are during the week, making sure my movements and my thought patterns are right.
“The attack’s very instinctive and you don’t practise it that much. I’ve played this game long enough now to understand when those moments come, so it’s just all feeling.
“But if I see opportunities I’ll go chase them. I’m really just trying to work out a way to influence a game of footy.”
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