Keen prop says continuity ‘key’ to rugby’s progress

Morgan Mitchell is eager for another season with the Southland Stags in 2023 and is hoping the bulk of his team mates will join him.

The 29-year-old tight-head prop has been one of the Stags’ best during its 2022 NPC season through an impressive work rate and being the pillar of its scrum.

Mitchell returned to Southland this year after a stint playing in Japan.

Southland will bring the curtain down on its 2022 NPC campaign today against North Harbour at Invercargill’s Rugby Park.

An end of season awards function will be held on Tuesday before the focus starts to switch to next year.

‘‘Ideally I’d like to be back,’’ Mitchell said. ‘‘It would be good if the other boys come back too. I think that’s important.’’

Mitchell felt some continuity would be one of the key factors in helping Southland rugby’s progress.

‘‘You see a lot of boys come and go, I think that’s a problem. I know you’ve got the core, but there’s still a lot of players coming and going.

‘‘That’s footy I suppose, but [the potential] is there, and then we lose players again.’’

Mitchell was confident with what was being done at Rugby Southland around future planning.

‘‘[General manager Steve Mitchell] and the board members are pretty onto it now. I think there is real potential. They’ve got plans, and I’m excited.’’

While the Stags prop is keen for another shot in the maroon jersey, if it works out, he’s unsure what is instore for him between now and the next NPC campaign.

Pretty much all of New Zealand’s five Super Rugby teams had their propping stocks sorted prior to the start of the NPC season. He hopes to maybe head back to Japan, although nothing has yet been locked in.

It means Mitchell will likely keep fit during summer and wait by the phone for a Japanese club to call and pick him up as a ‘‘medical joker’’.

The ‘‘medical joker’’ means if a club has injuries to its props Mitchell could get a call and within days be on a plane to Japan to provide cover.

Mitchell made his Stags debut eight years ago and has grown immensely as a player, most notably in the scrumming department.

‘‘Just being a bit older has helped. I’m a lot more calmer and not too intense. I just get out there, play footy and just enjoy it a bit more.’’

He’s happy with how the Stags scrum has generally held up in 2022 with him the cornerstone to that.

‘‘There’s a couple of calls that haven’t gone our way, and that’s bloody tough. Against Hawke’s Bay two [of the penalties] were my fault, but they actually weren’t my fault, he actually went down first,’’ Mitchell said.

He acknowledged it was tough for the referees to figure out what’s going on but said it had been a frustrating aspect during a season where he felt the Stags scrum had actually been good.

Today’s game kicks off at 2.05pm.