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Souths coach Jason Demetriou has called for life bans for fans who allegedly racially abused Latrell Mitchell as he left the field at half time of their 16-10 defeat to Penrith at Bluebet Stadium.
Demetriou was visibly angered by the alleged incident, in which a teenage fan is reported to have called Mitchell a “black dog”. The fan was ejected and the police are investigating.
“Where does it end?” said Demetriou. “It’s just not on. I shouldn’t have to come here as a coach and lead a group of players to be racially abused. It’s not on.
“It’s not what our game is about and we have to stamp it out completely. The NRL clubs have to get rid of it. Life bans, anybody wants to racially abuse, get them out of the game, we don’t want their support. It has to end.
“It’s not the first time we’ve come here as a club and our players have been racially abused,” he concluded, referring to the 2018 incident where Greg Inglis suffered similar abuse at Penrith Stadium.
The supporter who allegedly made the comment was reported to be a teenager in a Sydney Roosters jersey and was said to be at the game with their father.
Mitchell and several Souths players could be seen reacting to the teenager, with Latrell saying ‘What did you say?’ and shaking his head as he left the pitch.
The fan was then removed and police could be seen talking to fans in the vicinity of the tunnel.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
“From what I understand, security have done a great job identifying who it is, the club has done a great job of identifying who it is and now we’ll take it through the police,” said Demetriou.
“We’ll go all the way, as far as we can with it. As a club, we’ll stand right by Latrell.
“He’s sick of it. Why wouldn’t he be? He should be able to come here as a star of our game and not be racially abused. Who cares what colour he is?
“It’s not on. I don’t understand how that happens in our day and age. I can’t get my head around how a young kid thinks that’s the language to be using. I don’t care what jersey he’s wearing. Get them out of our game.”
Demetriou also backed up Mitchell’s character, and added that he constantly deals with such abuse. In 2021, he reported two men to the police after receiving racist abuse on social media, resulting in the police pressing charges.
“Latrell answers his critics with his character every week,” he said.
“He just continually shows the quality person that he is. Again this is not just something that Latrell cops on the footy field. This is something that he has had to deal with his whole life. All Indigenous people do.
“I just can’t get my head around it. I don’t understand in Australia how anyone is raised like that. It makes no sense to me whatsoever.
“Latrell is a real role model in our game. We love him at our club. He stands for the Indigenous people. He stands for good people.
“I just get worried about Latrell or any Indigenous player in our organisation. Where, as a game, do we say no, no, it is not happening?
“There has to be hard and fast rules. If anyone even comes close to being racial they have to be completely ruled out of our game. And if it is a young kid, rule his parents out as well.
“It is just not on. Why should you have to cop it? I can’t understand how he feels? I haven’t had to grow up with this stuff. But he has and other people have and I can’t get my head around it.
“If it was my child I would be absolutely ashamed and embarrassed that my child has even thought to speak like that.”
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has vowed to eradicate racism from the sport as he promised to sanction and educate any fan found to have abused Mitchell.
Abdo on Friday stopped short of promising a life ban for a spectator accused of racially abusing Mitchell at Penrith on Thursday night, but said the game would come down hard on any offenders.
“The message to those outlying individuals is very clear – you are not welcome in our game,” Abdo said. “You’re going to be called out, and not just by players but by fans and officials. We self-regulate in our game. And eventually it becomes eradicated.
“That has to be our goal and our vision. We will do all we can to make sure we leave the game better than we found it. And that means that these types of incidents are not occurring.”
Abdo confirmed the NRL’s integrity unit were working with NSW Police on the matter, with the investigation the game’s top priority.
Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly was furious. “This is a deeply disappointing situation, something that our players should never be subjected to,” Solly said on Friday. “We feel as a club that the strongest possible action needs to be taken against the perpetrators.
(Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
“Latrell is a strong, proud Biripi man. He stands up for himself, his teammates, his club, his family and his people. This should never be discouraged by the actions of some people with archaic views.”
Solly labelled the abuse as abhorrent and antiquated, and called for fans of all clubs to help stamp it out by immediately reporting any slur seen online or heard at a ground.
“If you’re a fan in the stands and you hear it, see it or read it, then call it out – just as the players from both teams responded to it in the tunnel at the time,” Solly said.
“This immediate response from Rabbitohs and Panthers players who heard the remark is the response everybody should take.”
Two fans who racially abused Greg Inglis at Bluebet Stadium in 2018 were handed indefinite bans from the NRL at the time.
The Panthers swiftly released a statement pledging their support to an investigation.
“Penrith Panthers is aware of an alleged incident involving a rugby league fan that occurred at half-time of the Round 2 match against South Sydney Rabbitohs at BlueBet Stadium,” it read.
“The NRL was immediately informed of the alleged matter, and the club will work with the NRL to investigate the situation. At this point, Panthers will make no further comment.”
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Mitchell’s former coach, Trent Robinson, offered an apology on behalf of his club because the person who allegedly made the abusive remark was wearing a Roosters jersey.
“It’s really disappointing. We just don’t represent the Roosters in that way. It’s not how we want to act as Roosters,” Robinson said on Friday morning. “Whether we like it or not, they were wearing our colours. We have to accept that. But it doesn’t mean they are a Rooster.
“If you want to act like that, and abuse people racially like that, then that is not who we are. It’s not who we want to be. We need to be better than (that). I’m apologising from the Roosters to Latrell, even though it’s not directly us. Indirectly one of our fans did that, and it’s not right.”
Robinson did, however, admit he was not surprised by the situation. “Because that’s where we are still at as a country,” Robinson said. “It’s pretty standard. Some people are casual racists and some people are overt like it was last night. That’s where we’re at.
“People don’t like strong Indigenous voices like Latrell. They would rather he stay quiet and in his box and not express it in that way.
“We are still not at a point where we are able to accept really strong Indigenous voices in this country. That’s really disappointing.”
Trent Robinson (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Robinson also backed South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou’s calls for life bans for the offender and their parents. But as someone who watched Mitchell confront online trolls publicly in 2019, Robinson played down fears the fullback could be driven out of the game.
“He’s too strong for that,” Robinson said. “He will get stronger and stronger from this. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen it with Latrell.
“He understands it is part of his life … He will use it in his way and the right way.”
Panthers co-captain Nathan Cleary was devastated for his Kangaroos teammate.
“It’s just disgusting,” Cleary said. “There’s no point in a game where you should feel like you have the right to say stuff like that to a player. I hope they never come back here. They’re not fans if they’re saying that stuff.”