He produced a crunching tackle on Alofiana Khan-Pereira in the second half,and backed himself with a two-point field-goal attempt in the final minute.

Captain Walker praised Mitchell for being a constant threat against the Titans,especially with his boot and presence as the last line of defence.

“When teams break us or make a line break,they need to get past the big fella,” Walker said. “He’s hard to beat one-on-one. I thought he was outstanding today. His kicking game was unbelievable – he has the biggest boot in our team.”

Interim coach Ben Hornby said of Mitchell’s Origin hopes:“I can’t see why ‘Madge’[Maguire] wouldn’t want to pick him. But at the end of the day,NSW has a lot of good players. Whoever they pick will get the job doe for them.”

Souths posted rare back-to-back wins to finally move off the bottom of the NRL ladder. Wests Tigers now prop up the table.

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