Trent Robinson is refusing to point the finger at Latrell Mitchell after the young sensation came crashing back to earth in the Sydney Roosters' NRL preliminary final loss to North Queensland.
Mitchell was billed as a Roosters gamebreaker but ended up helping the Cowboys into the grand final with a forgettable display after being shunted to the wing in a surprise late reshuffle from Robinson.
The coach opted to instead start Daniel Tupou on the bench, with Ryan Matterson promoted to the centres in the 29-16 defeat at Allianz Stadium.
After lighting up week one of the finals with a breathtaking solo effort to earn the Roosters a thrilling last-gasp victory over Brisbane, Mitchell's mistake-riddled performance on Saturday night left the 20-year-old gutted.
Dubbed the next Greg Inglis, he dragged the Roosters into the contest with their opening try just before halftime, when he cashed in on a Luke Keary crossfield bomb after his side trailed 8-0.
The try atoned for a penalty he conceded for sending a kick-off over the dead-ball line, allowing North Queensland to cross for a six-pointer the very next set.
Mitchell's obstruction of Cowboys centre Kyle Linnett also forced the bunker to overrule a try to Matterson early in the second half.
Completing his unhappy night, Mitchell fired another kick-off dead late on as the Roosters desperately tried to reel in the Cowboys.
"It's his first semi-finals series," Robinson reminded the critics.
"He plucked that one from nowhere to score the try - last week's - and it was a pretty big learning experience for a first semi-finals.
"He wasn't the reason we lost tonight. As a collective group, we weren't good enough in controlling our game."
Robinson also defended his tinkering of the Roosters' starting line-up, chiefly Matterson's inclusion, after coming under fire on social media.
Already Twitter talk has the three-time minor premiership-winning mentor's position possibly under threat after the Roosters again fell short of a grand final berth despite another top-four finish.
"We've been pretty strong there (in the centres) defensively for seven weeks," he said.
"We kept the rhythm then. Matto has been doing a really good job in that position.
"We ended up conceding a couple of tries there tonight, which we haven't in the past."
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