Aitken the Dragon with the toughest job on Anzac Day
Christian NicolussiApril 21, 2019 — 2.47pm
Euan Aitken has the most daunting job in rugby league later this week - stopping a red-hot Latrell Mitchell on Anzac Day, fresh after his
match-winning heroics in Melbourne.
Aitken admits he held his own with Mitchell in the corresponding fixture last year, but proved no match for the young Roosters pin-up when he went''put on a clinic'' the second time they met in round 20 and bagged three tries.
Tough ask: Euan Aitken must try to stop a red-hot Latrell Mitchell when the Dragons face the Roosters on Anzac Day.Credit:AAP
The excitement about Anzac Day started almost immediately among the Dragons players as they hit the showers at WIN Stadium after
Saturday night's 12-10 win over Manly. New recruit Corey Norman was told he would experience one of the game's great spectacles.
As for Aitken stopping Mitchell, the right centre told the
Herald it was almost a case of looking for ''redemption'' after the 21-year-old's last-start carve-up.
"Everyone knows he's a gun player, he's something special, he's a dynamic ball-runner, and we need to get up and take his time away,'' Aitken said.
"When the Storm left him a bit of space you could see how powerful he was and when he winds up he's quite quick. We need to get up and take his time away.
"He's very strong, he's 100-plus kilos, he has a palm and a good motor.
"The times you do struggle against him is when you give him space. He has that big left foot.
"The last game he got the wood over me. He was impressive that day. Anzac Day was a good duel, but later in the year they had a really good win and he put on a bit of a clinic.
"It's a challenge for me, I need to come back from that one and step up and there's a bit of redemption.''
"It's a big challenge for me, but coming up against the best players only makes you get better.
"He can get chirpy. He always gets chirpy. That's who he is as a person. It's fine, everyone is different off the field. We just have to try and take his time away.''
Even though the Dragons have had a dream month of results, including a couple of close ones, Aitken knows they need to go to another level to match it with the Bondi boys.
While defence had been solid in recent weeks, Aitken said their attack could improve.
"There's a lot of improvement, but good teams win the tight games, even when you're not playing at your very best - our best and worst games are getting closer together,'' he said.
Norman, who has always admired the lead-up and sentiment surrounding the Anzac Day games, said his teammates had told him what to expect at the SCG as they scrubbed up.
"I was in the shower then and the boys were talking about the atmosphere and how it's a game you just get up for. I'm really looking forward to my first experience,'' Norman said.
"The boys said it's electric out there. It's a short turnaround so we need to get our bodies right.''
Norman also had a lot of time for Mitchell and said: "He's one of those players you just have to try and do your best, take his time away from him and get in front of him. It's a hard task but it's what you have to do.''
St George Illawarra were brilliant against the Roosters last year as Tariq Sims went on a one-man mission and terrorised Cooper Cronk. Jack de Belin also had a big game as Brad Fittler stood on the sidelines for Channel Nine and realised he could have had up to half-a-dozen Dragons players in his first NSW Origin team.
The Roosters, however, have now won five on the bounce and have the benefit of Cronk and James Tedesco, two key members of their spine with a whole season under their belts at the club.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/ai...oughest-job-on-anzac-day-20190420-p51fw2.html
