South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou has brushed off the upcoming absence of superstar fullback Latrell Mitchell after the Kangaroos International was ruled out for up to 8 weeks with a hamstring injury.

Mitchell is set to miss State of Origin I for New South Wales with Blake Taaffe returning to the starting side after filling in impressively for Mitchell in last year’s finals.

“I am excited about Blake playing in some mid-season games,” Demetriou said on Monday afternoon.

“Last year he had one or two games and was then thrown into a finals series. I think we are in a pretty decent place. Having Blake there is lucky big time. It saves me having to ask where we’re going to play him for the next eight weeks.

“It’s next man up. That’s how we have to approach it.”