theblackdoctor
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Souths blame Radley hip-drop tackle for eight-week Mitchell injury
ByChristian Nicolussi
March 21, 2023 — 5.00amShaquai Mitchell will be sidelined for a minimum of eight weeks with an injury South Sydney believe was caused by an illegal hip-drop tackle.
Mitchell was spotted on crutches after Friday’s loss to the Sydney Roosters, with scans confirming on Monday he had suffered a lisfranc injury, which is a type of foot fracture.
Souths were upset Roosters forward Victor Radley was not cited by the match review committee for the 41st-minute tackle, in which he came down on the back of Mitchell’s legs from behind.
It was similar to Raymond Faitala-Mariner’s round-two tackle on Nelson Asofa-Solomona, which left the prop with a knee injury and left Storm officials convinced their player had been the victim of a hip-drop tackle.
Latrell Mitchell’s older brother has worked hard all summer to keep his weight down and give himself every chance to string some NRL games together, but now joins a bulging forwards casualty ward, including Jai Arrow (hamstring) whose anticipated return against Manly on Saturday will be delayed another week.
Souths representative hooker Damien Cook felt sorry for Mitchell and, while he accepted Radley had not intended to hurt his rival, said there was no place in the game for the hip-drop tackle.
Shaquai Mitchell was injured in this tackle by Victory Radley.
“I don’t know what a textbook hip-drop tackle is, but that looked like one,” Cook told the Herald. “Sitting on the back of someone’s ankles and putting them in a bad position doesn’t help.
“The game needs to crack down on it straight away to prevent any more injuries for any team. Victor is a competitor, he wants to stop that player and bring him to the ground by any means necessary. It’s something we all need to have coached out of us.
“Shaq left the game in a moonboot and on crutches, which is never good. It’s pretty devastating for him because he had a great pre-season, and we’ve all heard a little bit about his story recently, and where he’s come from. He’s a forward with great footwork and skill who we will now miss.”
Souths will look to bounce back against Manly in a Saturday night return to Allianz Stadium that will pit Latrell Mitchell against rival No.1 Tom Trbojevic for the first time in five years.
Both men have spent time working with reconditioning specialist Bill Knowles, and despite being fullbacks for their clubs, are likely to be the starting centres for the NSW Origin team.
Souths also go head-to-head with former head coach Anthony Seibold, who has enjoyed a golden start on the northern beaches and did a lot for Cook in his sole season in charge at Souths.
“‘Seibs’ believed in me and gave me a lot of confidence, I was in and out of first grade, but he put me in there, said, ‘the job is yours’ and to get it done,” Cook said. “That belief definitely helped me.
“As for ‘Trell’ and Turbo, they’re both very different fullbacks, but hopefully we can get Trell in the right positions and he can do his thing.”
, I kind of agree that it’s not a traditional hip drop tackle…where the attacking player is almost stationary, and the defender starts at the hip and then deliberately drops his body weight on the lower leg, to bring the tackled player to the ground. 
