Sydney Roosters superstar Latrell Mitchell has dismissed speculation about his NRL future, saying a defection to South Sydney hadn't even crossed his mind.
The 21-year-old launched himself into the stratosphere of the game's elite players after turning in a performance labelled a 10 out of 10 by coach Trent Robinson in the ladder leaders' 42-12 flogging of the Wests Tigers.
The NSW centre had a hand in five of his side's seven tries - including scoring three - and could have had a fourth if skipper Boyd Cordner had not beaten him to a Luke Keary grubber in the final minute.
Even opposition coach Michael Maguire was in awe - saying while he didn't like to compare players, his feats were reminiscent of recently retired great Greg Inglis.
Over the last week, Mitchell's future at the club has been brought into question, with speculation the Rabbitohs would use the room in their salary cap created by Inglis's retirement to attempt to lure him across Anzac Parade.
Mitchell, who is not off contract until the end of 2020, said he hadn't even considered his next move.
"I wasn't even thinking about Souths to be honest," Mitchell said, speaking about the contract rumours for the first time.
"I don't know where that came from.
"There's been a lot of hype around GI retiring and it's a credit to him, he's had a wonderful career.
"I think people will think 'he's the next up and comer' and I'll follow in his footsteps. But he went as far as he could and I have my own path to follow."
Mitchell said contract negotiations weren't even on his radar for 2019, insisting the stories about his future were just speculation.
"All this talk, I'm contracted until next year, I'm just happy to play out my years, then when it comes to negotiating, then we'll talk," Mitchell said.
"At the moment I just want to keep playing footy and not worry about rumours going around that people are making up.
"I see those things and I think 'I know they're not true'. I'm here to have fun and play footy with the boys and go through the season and build something."
Mitchell deflected praise onto his teammates following their big win over the Tigers, insisting: "I just do the easy stuff."
He came up with several plays which will be on highlight reels for years to come, including an 80 metre intercept off a Robbie Farah pass during which he tip-toed down the sideline.
"I was flirting there," Mitchell said.
"I would have been dirty. I put it down, looked back and thought 'I hope I didn't tread out because I don't want to defend'."
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