LeagueNews.co | Cooper McEnroe
Mitch Barnett, the fearless stand-in skipper for the New Zealand Warriors, has boldly declared that the thought of skipping out on Friday night's clash against the Canberra Raiders never even entered his mind.
The gritty forward recently earned his stripes with a debut for the New South Wales Blues in the State of Origin series, coming off the interchange bench after being on Michael Maguire's radar for the first two games.
Despite shouldering the captaincy for an undermanned Warriors side in a narrow defeat to the Raiders, Barnett showed no signs of fatigue from his Origin efforts.
After putting up a solid 47-minute shift in a brutal showdown, Barnett didn't flinch at the idea of backing up for the Warriors, emphasizing that the pain of defeat stung more than any physical toll.
"I'm feeling it right now.
But really, I'm just gutted about the result today, it's a tough pill to swallow," Barnett candidly shared in the post-game interviews.
With true grit and determination, Barnett proves that he's a hard-nosed warrior both on and off the field, never backing down from a challenge and always ready to go the extra mile for his team.