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Opinion
Just when you think rugby league has tossed up every storyline you couldn’t imagine, the son of an Immortal opens their big mouth.
When it comes to newsworthiness, Rod Churchill’s unnecessary vitriol aimed at Latrell Mitchell has sold plenty of papers, generated a mountain of clicks and dominated the never-ending NRL cycle over the past few days.
But should anyone care what he thinks anyway? Like everyone he’s entitled to his opinion but if your dad was good at a sport more than six decades ago, it does not make you an authority on the subject.
Just because his father Clive became one of rugby league’s first Immortals by playing fullback for South Sydney does not give any greater weight to his thoughts on Mitchell currently occupying the Rabbitohs’ No.1 jersey.
To describe him as a “myth”, a “cancer” and “an embarrassment to the jersey” is about as below the belt as you can get.
Latrell Mitchell. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
He sent a grovelling apology to South Sydney on Monday but it’s hard to accept contrition as genuine after someone sends such a spiteful message to the club chairman and then pours more fuel on the fire by speaking to media outlets about it.
Churchill finally got his words right when he said he was embarrassed that he had tarnished his famous father’s reputation.
The fact that he mentioned both in the weekend media interviews and his apology letter to Souths that he’s had a long association with Indigenous players is tone deaf at best.
It smacks of the old excuse you hear when people say they can’t be accused of being homophobic because they have a gay cousin, not that there was anything to implicitly suggest his attack on Mitchell had anything to do with race even if he was reinforcing a stereotype by saying the fullback was “too lazy” for the position.
You wouldn’t blame Mitchell or any of his mates in the NRL ranks for snubbing Churchill on stage at the Grand Final if he is again allowed to present the medal bearing his father’s name.
Players after winning a premiership are high on emotion – NRL CEO David Gallop felt the wrath of Glenn and Brett Stewart on Grand Final night in 2011 over the way the league had sanctioned the Manly fullback when he faced serious off-field accusations, for which he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
In his weekend rant, Churchill also lashed the Bunnies for Sam Burgess’ abrupt departure as an assistant coach last week for being unable to work with head coach Jason Demetriou over the preferential treatment which Mitchell and Cody Walker had supposedly been receiving.
Burgess was a game-changing recruit for Souths as a player who was one of the most intimidating players in the NRL throughout his career.
But judging by the types of off-field incidents he’s been involved in since retiring less than four years ago, is he the kind of person you would want in a position of authority at a professional sporting team?
Often when he would cop a suspension for acts of foul play during his career, he trotted out a view of there was nothing in it or it’s all part of the game.
It’s an old-school approach but not one that meshes with the new era of concussion awareness and which has quickly changed attitudes and tolerance levels towards thuggish behaviour. Well, nearly all of them.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Whether he can adapt and become a successful coach remains to be seen and he’s returning home to the Super League with Warrington on a three-year deal in a bid to show he can handle the step up from assistant duties.
None of this drama is helpful to the Rabbitohs as Demetriou tries to prepare them for Friday night’s do-or-die showdown for a finals berth with their bitter rivals, the Roosters.
The fact that Souths are on the borderline of making the eight is staggering considering they were on top of the table in Round 11 but have plummeted due to a range of reasons, most notably Mitchell’s calf injury which sidelined him for nearly three months.
Mitchell won’t be suiting up at Accor Stadium against his old club due to the suspension he copped before last week’s bye for a grubby elbow on Knights veteran Tyson Frizell and although Souths dropped a big dose of good news with Cameron Murray’s contract extension on Monday, the Churchill drama will continue to be a distraction in the lead-up to kick-off.
Latrell Mitchell with Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
South Sydney are going to be cannon fodder even if they make the finals after all the soap opera storylines that have engulfed the club recently.
After five straight playoff campaigns that reached the preliminary final or better, Demetriou shouldn’t be looking over his shoulder if the Rabbitohs don’t qualify for the playoffs.
But it would mean next season would be pivotal in whether he becomes South Sydney’s long-term mentor.
If they don’t click again next year as Wayne Bennett prepares to vacate the Dolphins’ top job for Kristian Woolf to take over in 2025, Demetriou will be facing questions left, right and centre.
And if speculation does flare up, you would hope the last person who sticks their head up to comment publicly would be Rod Churchill after the lesson he’s learned the past few days.