South Sydney Rabbitohs head coach Jason Demetriou has implored star fullback Latrell Mitchell to get more involved in games from the start.
The Rabbitohs lost to the Melbourne Storm on Friday night 18 points to 10, but found themselves letting in three of the first four tries to trail 18 points to 6 at one stage.
Mitchell, who has had a slightly indifferent start to the season with South Sydney losing three of their first five games, wound up with more than 170 metres and a try assist, but was quiet early on.
Demetriou, left frustrated by the club's third loss in four weeks against a premiership contender, used his press conference post-game in an attempt to fire up his star fullback.
“He probably needs to find his way into the game a bit earlier,” Demetriou said.
“I thought the backend of the first half he started to get himself into the game a bit more.
“I thought across the board we were off the pace a little bit. When we all started getting on the pace and playing like we can, the scoreboard pressure got the better of us.”
Mitchell, who is rated as one of the game's best fullbacks, struggled with positioning and consistency issues early in his time after moving from the centres on a full-time basis.
In the time since, he has become a consistent force and was a major part of the Rabbitohs going from a fringe finals team to the preliminary finals for the fifth-straight season last year after his mid-season return from injury, which had seen him head to the United States of America for specialist treatment.
Despite Demetriou's comments, Mitchell is expected to be a shoo-in for the New South Wales State of Origin team when it's picked in less than two months by Blues' coach Brad Fittler.
The Rabbitohs play the Bulldogs, Dolphins and Panthers in the coming weeks as they attempt to move back up the ladder.
