"Sheriff" Latrell Mitchell is riding back into town, charged with solving the case of South Sydney's leaky defence and bringing crooks to justice at training.
Mitchell often earns plaudits as one of the most damaging attacking players in rugby league, his combination of skill, size and speed marking him as one of the NRL's elite ball-runners.
But the fullback's seven-game absence with a calf injury has exposed his defensive worth to the Rabbitohs. Souths have conceded more points in that span than in their 12 games with Mitchell to begin the season.
The Rabbitohs have let in an average of 15.6 points with Mitchell in the side this year, compared to 29.4 without him.
"He’s a big body there and he thinks he saves more tries than he scores," captain Cameron Murray said.
The Rabbitohs' strong defensive record with Mitchell present stems from his ability to keep the side accountable both on and off the field.
"He’s a bit of the sheriff, who collects the debts and the money for boys not following the rules around training," hooker Damien Cook explained.
Mitchell's good mate Cody Walker said no matter the crime, the sheriff was always on the case.
"Sometimes the boys are late to meetings or have phones in the gym," the five-eighth said.
"He has little rules here and there about keeping the place tidy and clean.
"Everyone's a bit scared of him.
"It makes the boys keep the standards around the place."
On-field accountability will be key for Souths in the run home after they fell out of the top eight for the first time since round six with Friday's 36-20 loss to Brisbane.
It was the fourth time in five games the Rabbitohs leaked more than 30 points.
After making it through training unscathed on Monday, Mitchell is poised to return from his injury to face Wests Tigers, who the Rabbitohs must defeat to keep in touch with the top-eight logjam.
"(Mitchell) bounced into training this morning knowing that after a couple of months he’ll be back on the field," Murray said.
"He’s really excited and that energy is infectious."
Mitchell's return from a hamstring injury last season helped spark the hot-and-cold Rabbitohs on a run that only ended with a loss to eventual premiers Penrith in the preliminary finals.
But the Rabbitohs are aware a repeat of last week's 66 per cent completion rate and 35 missed tackles will give Mitchell limited room to shine on his return this time around.
"He’s such a massive player in this comp, one of the best there is, and when we’re playing our best footy then he’s allowed to do his thing off the back of that," Cook said.
"So we’ve got to make sure that we do our job first to unleash Trell and what he’s capable of."
