THE name Tyson Mitchell may not ring too many bells for those attending the NSW Junior State Cup this weekend.
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But when you refer to the 13-year-old as the “kid whose video went viral” when he weaved his way to the tryline 12 months ago, most people would remember the passage of play.
Playing for the junior Sharks against Lower Blue Mountains Rangers, Mitchell stepped past six defenders on a 40-metre burst.
He then delivered the final pass for the try in the corner.
After the video went viral on Facebook, Mitchell’s father Brad said his son became an unofficial poster boy for the National Rugby League.
The talented youngster is part of the Sharks Elite Touch Football Program and the club invited the family down to their Woolooware headquarters.
“He got invited down to Cronulla Sharks training where he had a photo shoot with them and got to see a few of their training sessions behind closed doors,” he said.
“He was probably a bit overwhelmed by the hype after it.”
Mr Mitchell said the incredible passage of play didn’t surprise him because he knew what Tyson was capable of.
“I think it blew up over nothing,” he said.
“I couldn’t believe it because I thought there were probably about a thousand other tries scored that were better than that one over the weekend.
“I was on the sideline and I just gave him a high-five when he came off and that was it.”
Mitchell said their phone “didn’t stop ringing” from the time they left Port Macquarie until they arrived in Sydney.
“After that it petered out a little bit, but Tyson got a massive kick out of it.”
Incredibly, the young star’s sidestepping passage of play has been watched more than Shaun Johnson’s highlights reel which registered 750,000 views.
Mitchell’s is now up to 782,000.
“The main thing he got out of it was when he got followed on Instagram by NSW Touch and the Sharks, but that’s social media these days isn’t it,” his father said.
Adding further credit to Mitchell’s sensational efforts is that he was only a novice to junior touch football 12 months ago.
“Last year was his first year of playing junior touch – he’s played rugby league since the under-8s and before that it was soccer.
“He’s just a natural sportsman – he gives anything he can get his hands on a go, whether that’s Oztag, touch, cricket in the summer.”
If you want to catch him in action, keep an eye out for the Cronulla Sharks under-14 team this weekend.
“It’s a big jump up from the under-12s to the under-14s, but they’ll go alright. Next year will probably be their big year.”