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South Sydney have established a swear jar to discourage players from using profanity in broadcast interviews as Latrell Mitchell did following the Rabbitohs’ loss to Brisbane.
But captain Cameron Murray says explicit language comes with the territory when media speak to players after games and has urged the public not to judge Mitchell on one interview.
Mitchell raised eyebrows with an expletive-laden radio cross on Thursday night, saying “f***” four times live on Triple M as he reflected on the Rabbitohs’ 28-18 loss to Brisbane.
The incident prompted NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo to publicly remind players to “be respectful” with their language during interviews.
Mitchell has not been sanctioned over the episode but the high-profile fullback’s choice of words nevertheless generated public scrutiny.
During his breakfast show on Triple M on Monday, NRL forward-turned-radio host Mark Geyer said Mitchell “should’ve at least copped a fine” for his comments.
The Rabbitohs have taken matters into their own hands, establishing an in-house swear jar to keep players in line.
“Trell’s got a few dollars to put in after the weekend,” Souths recruit Jack Wighton said.
“Obviously he probably shouldn’t have said it so many times, but slip of the tongue.
“I might be in (the swear jar) there a few times if you listen at training!”
Murray shrugged the incident off as the Rabbitohs looked ahead to Friday’s grudge match against the Sydney Roosters.
“I didn’t see too much wrong with it,” he said.
“I know he’s a passionate man and I know all he wants to do is win. They’re two pretty good attributes that I think Latrell has and things that I’ll always back.
“Trell is Trell and I think what we do at this club really well is empower people to be themselves. I know if he had his time again, he’d probably be a little bit more selective about the words he chose.”
Murray pointed out Mitchell had been interviewed on the field at Suncorp Stadium, immediately after the final whistle had been blown on Souths’ second loss from as many games this season.
“That’s what happens when you grab somebody whose emotions are still running high 30 seconds after the final siren’s gone,” Murray said.
“That’s what happens. I know he didn’t mean any harm by it and I think it’s unfair to judge him and his character off that one interview.
“He does a lot of other great things for the community and for us here.”
Josh Mansour has opened up on his fractious relationship with South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou, telling James Graham’s The Bye Round podcast about how he was dropped from the first grade squad with little warning.
“I didn’t see eye-to-eye with the coach, which was a shame,’ said the former winger.
“I was so frustrated that final year. It’s pre-season and he told me I was going to be on that right edge with ‘Stretch’ (Campbell Graham), he wants me to build my combination with him and he fully believed in me.
“Round 1 comes, he names the side on Tuesday, I was in the team and then on Thursday’s captain’s run I’m coming in and I get a text from him saying to come to his office.
“I thought it was a bit bizarre.
“He told me that he was going to rest me for that week. I was like, ‘rest me for that week? It’s Round 1, why would you name me if you thought I needed a rest?’
“And then he said ‘I just want you to get a couple of weeks under your belt’. I’m like ‘okay, no worries, all good’.”
Mansour revealed how Demetriou had dropped him without telling him.
“He texted me again on captain’s run and I go ‘I think I know’,” said Mansour.
“I had a feeling it was going to be the same conversation I had in Round 1.
“I walked to my locker (first) to see if my captain’s run jersey was hanging and it wasn’t there, so I already had my answer. I already knew what was going to happen.
“I walked in… and straight off the bat he goes ‘I’m going to rest you this week.’ I’m like ‘Oh, what for?’ So I pressed him — I didn’t say that the first time.
“He goes ‘I thought you missed too many tackles last week’. I go, ‘can you show me?’ And I made him bring it up, it was like two missed tackles.
“There was one, it was a four on two on the short side, 10 meters off our line and I had to sit on the lead. (Reuben) Garrick was at the back, I checked, released and Garrick tipped onto the winger and I tried diving on the last ditch tackle to get to (Christian) Tuipulotu.
“I’m like, ‘what do you want to do there? Like I did my best’. He said, ‘yeah that was a bit harsh’.
“And the other one was, I jammed Garrick at the back and I kind of just bumped off him, re-gripped and took him to the ground.
“I go, ‘am I getting dropped for that?’ And he just couldn’t answer me.
“Then he tried rewinding for weeks before… And I go, ‘am I getting dropped for my performance last week or am I getting to drop for something that was weeks ago?’
“He didn’t answer me.
“From that day on, I checked out, fully checked out. I slammed my chair in and I go, ‘this is f***ing bulls**t’ and I walked out.”
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