“If Dyl’s fit and can play I think he’ll go back in, so that’s how I see it but who knows really,” Tedesco said. “It showed in the first camp anything can happen, so we’ll see.”
Mitchell sat next to Maguire at the South Sydney 2014 premiership reunion on Saturday afternoon.
Latrell Mitchell.Credit: Getty Images
Mitchell told Souths officials last month that he was considering withdrawing from Origin contention.
His chief concern was a belief he had been singled out for criticism by the state in previous campaigns. Mitchell was unsure whether he wanted to put himself back in that spotlight.
But after an impressive month of football, culminating in a convincing win over the Brisbane Broncos on Friday night, the Rabbitohs No.1 is ready to re-enter the Origin furnace.
“I wasn’t in the right headspace before game one,” he said. “At the same time, I was probably a bit filthy I didn’t get picked, to be honest. I was playing god there for a little bit. I didn’t know what I wanted. I played with fire a little bit. The doubt was there. I was scared about being thrown under the bus again. But now I know where I stand as a player. I’m ready to go if I get picked. I won’t let the state down.
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“I just feel like I want people to protect me if shit hits the fan. That’s what I think Madge will do. I just felt like before, I was always the scapegoat. That it was just easier to go against me than with me. That’s why the doubt came back and I thought, ‘I don’t want to play, I don’t want to play’.
“There’s so much bullshit about me and Origin when all I’ve ever done is win for Origin. I’ve given everything to NSW, the badge and the name on my back – my family. Not having that protection after, when shit hits the fan, that’s where the doubt crept in about going back and playing representative footy.”