May 15th, 2017

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson deserves praise for his decision to drop Latrell Mitchell (r). (AAP)

May 15th, 2017

Sydney Rooster coach Trent Robinson deserves congratulations for the "tough love" he has administered to his talented young centre Latrell Mitchell over the past month.

After a few weeks playing in the reserve grade competition for feeder club Wyong, Mitchell returned to the first-grade side yesterday and immediately reminded us of his special talents. In fact, with his first touch of the ball he swatted aside his opposition centre with a powerful palm to the chest to score the opening try of the match for his team.

However, Mitchell was not sent back to reserve grade to learn how to play football. He was demoted to the lower grades to learn how to appreciate what it means to be a professional footballer.

Not many coaches would have had the courage to drop an outstanding young talent from their team, especially when the team itself was struggling. Trent Robinson knew full well though, that a little short-term pain right now, would eventually produce some great long-term results.

All young players, even prodigious talents like Latrell Mitchell, can have times where they struggle with their football. They are only human and they can’t be brilliant all the time.

A coach can tell whether a player is suffering from a lack of experience or struggling with the repeated physicality that comes with playing in the NRL. More often than not they will put their arm around the youngster and nurse him through a difficult period.

Sydney Roosters centre Latrell Mitchell celebrated with gusto after scoring against Parramatta at Allianz Stadium. (AAP)

A coach can also sense whether the dip in a player’s form comes as a result of a poor attitude, or not applying enough attention to detail in his preparation as a professional footballer.

Sometimes the only way to get the message through to a player that he is not doing the right thing by himself and his team, is to take his NRL jersey away from him for a while.

I suspect this was more the case with Latrell Mitchell on this occasion.

There is much more to being a professional footballer than just occasionally scoring the brilliant try. You have a responsibility to your team and your team mates that extends into so many areas of your preparation and your performance on game day.

It’s also not easy for young players when they first experience things like adoration from the media and hero-worship from the fans. Not to mention lucrative playing contracts that provide them with more money than they’ve ever known. These outside distractions can certainly put them into a comfort zone.

Coach Robinson has simply reminded young Mitchell that with an NRL team is a privilege, not a right. With this privilege comes huge responsibility to the team and his teammates.

Mitchell returns from exile with a bang

I’m not suggesting a one minute that Latrell Mitchell was doing anything particularly wrong with his off-field behaviour. I just think coach Robinson had the feeling that maybe he was taking everything a little bit too much for granted. He simply delivered his young player a little bit of a reality check. In essence he asked the question, "how badly do you want to be an NRL footballer?"

Mitchell produced a couple of stunning attacking moments for his team against Parramatta yesterday. We’ve come to expect such brilliance from this outstanding young footballer. But more importantly he looked energetic, enthusiastic and committed for the entire 80 minutes of the match. .

It was a tremendous performance by the Roosters yesterday. They totally dominated every facet of play and were far too good for the Parramatta Eels. The 48-10 score-line was a fair reflection of the difference between the two teams.

Right from the opening whistle the Rooster forwards took control of the match and quickly asserted their authority. As a team the Roosters ran for 1792 m, compared to only 1064 from the Parramatta side.

The Roosters controlled the ball beautifully. They enjoyed 61% of total possession during the match and completed 35 sets of six from their 40 opportunities with the ball.

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson deserves praise for the way he handled centre Latrell Mitchell. (AAP)

The Roosters were also very strong in defence, they put a lot of pressure on their opponents forcing them into error on many occasions. As a result, Parramatta only completed 17 sets of six for the whole match. There is only ever going to be one result with statistics like these.

It was a highly professional performance and a welcome bounce back to form for the Roosters.

Whilst I left the game extremely impressed with their great victory, my overriding thoughts were for the victory the coach enjoyed with his talented young centre.

Well done young Latrell. Congratulations to coach Trent Robinson.