Cordner believes Mitchell axing will fire him up

NSW skipper Boyd Cordner believes Latrell Mitchell's axing will reignite a fire in the belly of his Roosters teammate.

The omission of Mitchell from the Blues team for the do-or-die match in Perth on Sunday is the most talked about topic in the game.

There are fears his dumping could have a negative impact on his short term career, but Cordner believes the tough call from Fittler could be the making of the 22-year-old.

"I think it'll fire him up," Cordner said.

"Knowing Latrell, if ever anything like this [happens], or if it's a challenge or anything like that, he always stands up. He'll use this as motivation for sure. 

"He'll have a lot of people around him. But I'll make sure I get around to him and just to see how he's going."

Blake Ferguson, a close friend of Mitchell's having played together at the Roosters, echoed Cordner's sentiment.

The Blues winger, who knows what it feels like to be on the outer at the Blues, admitted he would be keeping in touch with Mitchell to make sure he takes the positives out of a disappointing situation.

"For Latrell, he's just so young and has so much pressure on his shoulders," Ferguson told NRL.com after landing in Perth on Monday.

"That's what the selectors do, they have to be make the tough decisions. I love Latrell … he's one of my good mates. We won a comp together at the Roosters last year. He's someone that I do talk to on a regular basis.

"I will be talking to him all the time and making sure his mental health and wellbeing is alright. But they are the decisions you have to make, you have to make tough decisions."

While Fittler has a close relationship with Cordner as captain of the Blues, the skipper insists he wasn't consulted on Mitchell's axing.

"Not at all to tell you the truth," he said.

"That's Freddie's call and the coaching staff. I had no say in it at all.

"It's obviously a bit surprising but as soon as I seen the team, you can see it's a very strong squad. It obviously gives you confidence straight away that we can come over here and be able to get the job done. Obviously being teammates, it's hard to see [Latrell and Angus Crichton] go through that.

"That's footy, it happens every year. I suppose they understand that and use that as motivation going forward. It's obviously hard to take so I didn't want to crowd them too much. They've got to have time to process it all. But I just said to know I'm thinking of them and I'll probably speak to them throughout the week."