Latrell Mitchell has been stunningly dropped on his 22nd birthday as part of a whopping seven changes to the NSW team for the second State of Origin game.
The Sydney Roosters centre's axe comes after he failed to return to Sydney with his Blues teammates on Thursday and drove with relatives to his hometown in Taree.
Mitchell, who helped NSW win only their second Origin series in 13 years in 2018, was dropped after a lackluster Game 1 and off-field disputes with his manager.
NSW coach Brad Fittler's decision to dump Mitchell has sparked a furious reaction from fans, with one user describing the Blues as 'panic merchants since the 1980s.'
Latrell Mitchell has been stunningly dropped on his 22nd birthday as part of a whopping seven changes to the NSW team for the second State of Origin game(pictured with his girlfriend Brielle)
The Sydney Roosters centre's axe comes after he failed to return to Sydney with his Blues teammates on Thursday and drove with relatives to his hometown in Taree
'Queensland make two forced changes because of injury. New South Wales drop everybody. 30 years of #stateoforigin summed up in two sentences. #nrl,' one tweeted.
'Dropping Latrell Mitchell after one bad game is the sort of insane decision making that cost New South Wales 8 straight series,' another wrote.
One added: 'I just watched Latrell Mitchell play live. Scored 2 tries and kicked 5 goals. Simply cannot believe he hasn't been picked for NSW for Origin 2.'
Queensland fans were also quick to poke fun at the new-look NSW team.
'Not going to lie. I had to have a little giggle when I saw the NSW team selection for Origin - Game 2,' wrote one social media user.
'The N in NSW obviously stands for no loyalty,' wrote another.
'Queensland 3-0,' bluntly added a third.
