South Sydney’s Latrell Mitchell takes time out to tend to his cattle – and crook calf

Mitchell posted photos of himself looking relaxed and feeding his cattle on Friday.

If he recovers in time, there is a good chance Mitchell won’t be the only Souths player to feature for NSW at Suncorp Stadium on June 22, with several teammates including Campbell Graham, Damien Cook, Keaon Koloamatangi and Junior Tatola all on the radar of Blues coach Brad Fittler.

Cameron Murray featured in game one and will back up against the Gold Coast, as will Maroons forward Jai Arrow.

Graham was NSW’s original 18th man for game one, but pulled out because of a sternum injury, which has required game-day pain-killing injections most of the year.

The rangy centre missed Souths’ loss to Canberra last weekend but was a certain starter against the Titans, where he is set to come up against Queensland’s David Fifita.

“He’ll play well this weekend,” Demetriou said. “When you get a hit in the sternum and you play contact sport, it’s hard to shake off.

“We’re a team coming into our 15th week straight, we haven’t had a bye and no chance to rest anyone. The back end of the year looks a lot better for us in terms of giving guys with knocks that time to recover. That will be important for ‘Stretch’ [Graham], and it will be important for a lot of the boys.”

Martin the menace, Hunt disappointed Dragons missed Ryles

Liam Martin’s performance off the bench was one of the few highlights for the Blues on Wednesday night, but the Panthers forward was initially told he would be used to cause havoc through the middle for no more than 15 minutes.

Martin was injected into the action at the half-hour mark and finished the game with a try and no shortage of Queenslanders looking twice to make sure they were not in his sights each time they carried the ball.

A hamstring injury has limited Martin’s game time for Penrith this season, but his performances have gone to another level since returning from the World Cup with Australia.

Nursing five stitches in a cut above his right eye, Martin – one of six Panthers named to back up against St George Illawarra on Sunday – told this masthead Brad Fittler had given him a search-and-destroy mission at Adelaide Oval.

“‘Freddy’ [coach Brad Fittler] gave me a simple role at the start of the week, he said, ‘When you get out there, you might not be out there long, so front-load your energy and leave nothing in the tank’.

“I tried to do that from the start. I wasn’t sure how many minutes I was going to play. He thought I was going into the middle for 15 minutes, he told me, then I kept going. It changed on the run. I ended up playing the whole second half. I felt all right.”

Martin ironed out a few Maroons, and was always the first on the scene when tensions looked ready to spill over.

“We learned our lessons last year,” Martin said. “We never wanted to leave our mates alone, and whenever something happened, we had each other’s backs. We just weren’t good enough in the end.

A right-edge back-rower for Penrith, Martin is almost certain to earn a starting berth for game two at Suncorp Stadium.

Blues halfback Nathan Cleary could not praise his Panthers clubmate highly enough. “He’s a beast, he grows another leg in big games,” Cleary said. “You see it in Origin, the World Cup and in finals – he’s built for this stage and was great again.”

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Meanwhile, Dragons skipper Ben Hunt said he was disappointed key coaching target Jason Ryles had passed on the top job at the club.

“I never spoke to him personally [during the process],” Hunt said. “I’ve met him a couple of times, and all the guys you talk to – I questioned [Roosters prop] Lindsay Collins through this camp – nobody has a bad thing to say about him.”

“It’s disappointing the club missed out, but it’s his decision, he had something else in mind, and we have to move on. Interview me in a week or two and I’ll have more answers for you.”

Hunt has been in regular contact with sacked coach and good friend Anthony Griffin.

The playmaker, who continues to be linked to Canterbury, said he hoped the confidence he took out of the Origin I win would rub off on his Dragons teammates.

“We’ve been competing really hard this year,” Hunt said. “We’ve fallen a bit short … hopefully I can bring a bit of a spark back there and ignite the guys

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