'Back yourself': Inside Latrell's selfless call to give Blues spot to Crichton

“Back yourself”.

That was the message from an emotional Latrell Mitchell to Stephen Crichton after advising Blues coach Brad Fittler breaking that the Panthers centre should replace him in the Blues team for Wednesday night’s Origin opener at Adelaide Oval.

Mitchell made the selfless decision to rule himself out after suffering a calf injury at training because Crichton was already in the squad as 18th man and had been NSW’s best trainer after initially being overlooked.

The Rabbitohs superstar is believed to be a chance of playing in Saturday’s match against the Titans but he believed a fully fit Crichton could do a better job of containing Queensland centre Val Holmes after taking part in every training session with the Blues.

NSW coach Brad Fittler left the decision with Mitchell but he had a sense even before the results of scans were known that he would be out and was not surprised to receive the call on Monday morning.

Fittler then called a team meeting and announced the news to the players, including Crichton, who played in all three matches of last year’s Origin series.

He then asked Mitchell to address the Blues players.

“He was very emotional, and I think seeing Latrell explain it to the players this morning just showed where his head was at and how much he wanted to play,” Fittler said.

“It just happened at the end of the session too, but the good thing is that it’s not too bad. There was a chance that he could come down and train and possibly feel better.

“He thought given that Stephen was here for the week and he knows what Stephen can provide, he made the unselfish decision to say he wasn’t going to be right. He thought that was better for the team.

“It was good to see him get up in front of the group and explain the situation, and just give some confidence to Critta too.”

Mitchell did not travel to Adelaide with the team but before leaving camp he spoke to Crichton about the task confronting him when he lines up on the NSW left edge alongside Panthers and Samoa team-mates Jarome Luai and Brian To’o.

“He just told me to back myself, do what I do and play my footy,” Crichton said. “I spoke to him before I left and he was heaps emotional. I felt so sorry for him, he had  trained so good during the camp, as well, and just looked happy and looked in his place.”

Crichton had initially been overlooked when the Blues squad was announced last Monday, and only received a recall after South Sydney’s Campbell Graham was ruled out as 18th man with a sternum injury.

Fittler contacted Graham, who did not play in Saturday’s match against Canberra, after Mitchell’s withdrawal to advise that Crichton would now be starting, with Matt Burton called in as the new 18th man.

“I think he is going to play this weekend, but the reason was that we needed the 18th to train,” Fittler said.

“The fact Stephen was here training with us - he was healthy and trained every session - and has been here before was a Godsend.

“He plays that position regularly and you lose a lot when you lose Latrell, but Critta has done a good job for us in the past and he will do a good job again. He was the 18th man all along, and he was our best trainer.”

After selecting To’o at left wing to partner Mitchell because they had played alongside each other in the winning 2021 series, Fittler insisted he had not considered switching To’o and Crichton to the right edge, where they usually play for Penrith.

“Yesterday before training I asked him ‘how are you’, and all of that sort of stuff,” Fittler said of Crichton. “He said, ‘I’m ready to play. I’ve been ready to play since I got here’.

“He is one of those blokes who every day, as 18th man, just comes in with the energy and trains hard. He is great to have in the team.”

After Mitchell, the first players to congratulate Crichton were Luai and To’o, who were also members of the Samoa team which made last November’s World Cup final against Australia at Old Trafford.

“They have been through it all with me as well, so it is another game to write down in the books with my brothers,” Crichton said.

Samoa captain Junior Paulo is another familiar face for Crichton in the NSW squad, which now includes six current Panthers – Crichton, Luai, To’o, Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin – and  three ex-Panthers, Api Koroisau, Tevita Pangai jnr and Burton.

“It shows what sort of job they are doing at Penrith,” Fittler said. “They had a couple of tough games early but if you look at the games that they lost, they don’t give up.

"They keep tackling, they know the importance of defence and that is the sort of attitude you need in Origin.”