Latrell fever has swept parts of Western Australia with the South Sydney ace given a rock-star reception at a training session in Perth.
In scenes normally reserved for the West Coast Eagles or the Fremantle Dockers during the AFL finals, Mitchell was high-fived and posed for photos with fans, some of whom who had travelled more than four hours on Wednesday to see their hero.
Video footage showed Mitchell being the last player to hop off the team bus before a young fan yells: “He touched my hand – I’m never washing it.”
In the same week Channel Nine commentator Phil Gould questioned Mitchell’s big-game credentials on 100% Footy, it was clear there was no bigger name in league on the other side of the country.
Souths will host Cronulla as part of a Saturday Optus Stadium double-header that also features Newcastle and the Dolphins. The bulk of the 50,000 fans will be hoping the man with the South Sydney No.1 on his back turns it on.
“Latrell will be in for a big back end to this year,” Souths centre Campbell Graham said.
Latrell Mitchell takes time out with a young Perth-based fan.Credit: South Sydney Rabbitohs
“It was a great return the other night and he’ll look to build on that again. He’s had a couple of call-outs from people down the street, and after that training session, he was trying to walk back to the sheds and he was getting swamped.”
Souths are in the middle of a monster road trip that will continue in Cairns next weekend against St George Illawarra. They are fresh off hit-and-run trips to Tamworth and the Sunshine Coast.
The loser of the Souths and Cronulla match is likely to finish the weekend outside the top eight with just three rounds remaining.
Cronulla prop Braden Hamlin-Uele is not sure about his new long locks.Credit: Getty Images
Meanwhile, another player who will be impossible to miss out in the west on Saturday night for different reasons is Sharks forward Braden Hamlin-Uele whose curly locks have not been trimmed since the pre-season.
Hamlin-Uele, the unofficial leader of the Cronulla pack now Dale Finucane is sidelined with injury, last played in Perth a decade ago for the Sydney Roosters in an SG Ball game.
He said the middle forwards needed to be more consistent considering some weeks they had dominated sides, then other weeks “we get walked over”.
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