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International

NRL star Latrell Mitchell considering shock switch to rugby union - report

Latrell Mitchell. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
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Comment

Sydney Roosters star Latrell Mitchell is reportedly considering a shock move to rugby union after his advisors enquired about the prospect of a code switch with Rugby Australia.

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According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Mitchell’s management team reportedly made contact with RA to see if there is any interest in the 22-year-old as a potential Wallabies prospect as his options to stay in the NRL continue to dwindle.

The Roosters have pulled their lucrative contract offer from the table in a deal which would have secured the four-test Kangaroo centre’s long-term future.

Continue reading below…

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Instead, the reigning NRL champions want Mitchell off their books as soon as possible, despite the fact he is contracted with Sydney until 2020.

Similarly, the SMH reports that the Wests Tigers have also retracted their contract offer for the New South Wales youngster after they felt as though their offer was being used as a back-up alternative.

Writing in an online column for SBS six months ago, Australian dual code international Timana Tahu said that Mitchell should be a high priority target for RA.

“For the next high-profile player that they wanna look at, throw big money at, I’d be looking at Latrell,” Tahu wrote.

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https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1200420305778462730

“It’d be a massive loss for rugby league, but for rugby union, he’d bring a new audience, new sponsorship and help change the Wallabies.

“It’s perfect timing because there are two or three years for him to get his game knowledge up … the next World Cup is in 2023

“In terms of his union success, I just see his kicking skills, as well as his passing skills, being valuable. He’s tall, he’s fast, he’s big — he’s made for rugby union.

“In my opinion, if you were at Rugby Australia you should be doing everything you could to get him across…

“He could be a dominating centre in an Australian Super Rugby team, plus he would be an attribute for the Wallabies.

“I think his profile would bring a lot to the Wallabies too, on and off the field.”

The Tigers have stated that they would be willing to renegotiate a new offer if Mitchell expressed a desire to move to the club, but a move to any other team in the NRL would be highly dependent on player movements across the league leading into next season.

Such a complex process of player transfers could play a helping hand in a possible switch to rugby union, but that would likely come down to how RA see Mitchell fitting into their plans.

In other news:

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Comments on RugbyPass

T
Tom 12 minutes ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

Absolutely. England are unlikely to out-Bok the Boks. I say only unlikely because they did nearly do it in the 2023 world cup which was a hell of a performance by the forwards (until Dan Cole got benched).

If England go into the game and try to win an armwrestle I'm gonna be p*ssed off. The Boks are a fantastic side but they have shown occasional frailty when sides take them out of their comfort zone. If England play into their hands, they lose.



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R
RT 14 minutes ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

As an Englishman i fear the worst for Saturday , very tough afternoon in store .

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L
Lou Cifer 21 minutes ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

One feels there is too much media pressure to, at a bare minimum, include him in the matchday 23. A hype-monster has been created & some days it’ll work in England’s favour and some days it won’t. Only time will tell which outweighs the other….

12 Go to comments
I
Itsallacademic 21 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

This is an interesting article and very good analysis, but how on earth do you look at North v North games & stats and conclude anything about North v South?

Surely you need to at least provide comparable stats for South v South or even better North v South?



...

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W
Willardi 33 minutes ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

What most journo’s seem to be ignoring is the way his team mates get irritated by his flashiness. England typically embrace the hard rugby DNA. This bloke sits outside that ID. Borthwick would be sensible to not pick him at all. Best for the kid and best for England to go back to their proper identity. I suspect a lot of the old guard also cringe watching him swan around.

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K
KB 1 hour ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

None of the English 2018 tour or last years Wallabies win says anything really. The English was in full swing and Rassie started his 2nd test after his first agains Wales in the US and still the English couldnt finish it. Now the Boks have imprived so much the 2018 tour is irrelevant. The Aussies only managed to beat us a Tonyball needed still to be embedded and look what happened since.

The English, Pollock or not are in for a very tough afternoon. It is a stacked Bok team…



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L
Lou Cifer 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

It was a statement intended to utterly dominate and humiliate them

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L
Lou Cifer 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'



it has the feel of Hitman Hearns v Marvelous Marvin Hagler about it - with only one team standing at the end if it

Salivating at the mere thought of it all…..Saturday can’t come soon enough!



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Lou Cifer 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

There is definitely a weird air of confidence emanating from The Land of the Long White Cloud especially after their Breakdancing Messiah crashed & burned so spectacularly not too long ago. Guess time will tell…..

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T
TokoRFC 1 hour ago
Wallabies hopeful James Ramm joins New Zealand NPC side before Force move

Wow, isn’t this guy pretty damn good, I’d like to see a few more super rugby level Aussies in the NPC rasing the quality of the comp

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Lou Cifer 1 hour ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable



It breeds a subtle, subconscious complacency

It’s a double-edged sword which could see England up 21-0 after 20mins or lose by 20+



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N
Nickers 1 hour ago
There's only one selection that truly matters for the All Blacks this July

Those first two games against England??? They were diabolical. They set the scene for the circus that followed.

England played so badly, and we matched them every step of the way. But for a once every 5 years performance from Beaudy in the second test we would have lost by 10.



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Phantom 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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M
Mzilikazi 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Great article, Nick. I do wonder if a fatigue factor might skew results in this July leg though. And injuries will certainly curtail Ireland, I fear. The opposite ofc will be a factor in the autumn leg, the NH players nicely into their season, with hopefully fewer injuries.

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M
Mzilikazi 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Be tough for France if they don’t field the Toulouse and Montpellier players. I do think there is maybe a bit of overconfidence in the NZ press over the Rennie factor. We will see.

Ireland are very down on full strength. Badly at LHP. Depends what sort of team Schmidt picks too. He has already, imo, made a bad error leaving out LSL. ut I can see the WB’s winning this one. France will be tougher I feel, with the Toulouse and MP players coming in….like Meafou !!



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J
JM 1 hour ago
'Your brain picks up there's less oxygen... it hits you from the start' - but does altitude still really matter?

When RSA came back into the rugby fold it seemed everyone in NZ was stressed about playing them at altitude. Not just the effects on the body but the effects on the ball and how it changed how the game was played.

I reckon for the first couple of years there was a chunky dose self psyching involved on our part, when in a normal game you'd start to feel fatigued at 60 it was just standard but when you started to feel fatigued at altitude after 60 you convinced yourself that it was the sign of you hitting the wall and that played games with you.



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S
SS 1 hour ago
Losing to Henry Pollock would be unbearable

The Boks are all salivating…😜

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j
johnz 1 hour ago
There's only one selection that truly matters for the All Blacks this July

People make culture, you can't build a culture by reading a manual left behind by all the staff who were just sacked.

I don't buy the dyslexia thing. I was all for Razor based on listening and observing him before he got the gig. He was inspiring, thought outside the box, spoke the language of success, was open to new ideas and trying things. Unfortunately the guy that turned up was not the same guy. Even the players who knew him said the same thing.



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M
MV 1 hour ago
Bought not built: Rassie's importing has sacrificed the identity of Bok rugby

Ahh Ben Smith the eternal bok hater. And this is called sports journalism! When you have depleted your entire arsenal and the one thing left at the bottom you have been avoiding until now is this, then you truly have nothing else left. Really I wasted 5 mins of life I'll never get back!

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P
PM 2 hours ago
Where's the power? And what to do with Sua'ali'i? The key questions facing the Wallabies

My only quibble would be with ‘crushing’. I’d go with final nail in the coffin. They weren’t really up enough to be crushed.

30 Go to comments
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