With a month on the sidelines courtesy of the match review committee, Latrell Mitchell has plenty of time to contemplate his latest suspension.
To also think about where he wants to take the rest of his career.
Whether he wants to be remembered as an all-time great or someone who never fulfilled the full potential from their immense talent.
It could be the best thing that has happened to his career. If he wants it to be.
He has reportedly told his inner sanctum and South Sydney’s top brass that he wants to make amends and repay the team after letting them down with his reckless actions.
The elbow to the head of Shaun Johnson was just the latest in a series of “brain snaps” that have given Mitchell’s many critics ample ammunition to fire even more potshots in his direction.
It’s almost like his actions this season have been a collective cry for help. A mid-career crisis for a player who is now in his ninth season in the NRL after being thrown into the fray as a teenager at the Roosters in 2016.
After being criticised for his lack of fitness last year, Mitchell lost plenty of weight in the off-season and looked set to redeem his reputation as one of the NRL’s most impactful fullbacks.
But after playing strongly in the loss to Manly at Las Vegas, he has attracted negative publicity on a weekly basis – for swearing repeatedly in a post-match interview, then taking out Josh Addo-Carr and then last week’s incidents in the loss to the Warriors where he not only could have broken Johnson’s jaw but was lucky not to get a lengthier ban for his tackle on Tohu Harris.
Latrell Mitchell. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Mitchell is a natural leader and a role model particularly for Indigenous Australians.
His willingness to call out racism is noble and should be applauded, whether it’s online trolls, abusive fans at games or Spencer Leniu’s slur at Ezra Mam.
The silent majority is on his side, not the vocal few who get way too much airplay in the modern media landscape.
His voice will resonate further and for many years longer if he can again become an elite player in the NRL.
It was hardly surprising that Phil Gould raised the possibility of Mitchell retiring on 100% Footy earlier this week.
Mitchell has done it all, as they say, early in his career – two premierships at the Roosters, State of Origin and World Cup success, albeit not sustained at the rep level.
Gould has been around for a long time and seen many talented footballers, particularly Indigenous players, fall out of love with rugby league at an early age.
Anthony Mundine is the most famous example of an uber talented Indigenous star who walked away, two years younger than Mitchell is now, in the middle of the 2000 season.
He was rightly furious with being snubbed by representative selectors when he was lighting up the league with St George Illawarra alongside Nathan Blacklock, another Indigenous ace who should have had a longer career in league.
Blacklock was somehow never given an Origin jersey by NSW selectors despite being arguably the best winger in the game while scoring 20 or more tries in four straight seasons.
Heartbroken, he turned his back on the game to try his hand at rugby union with the Waratahs but was lost in a foreign code and despite returning to the Dragons, his career was never the same again.
South Sydney have been the NRL’s gold standard club for the way they have nurtured Indigenous talent, honouring their Redfern heartland and galvanising the First Nations communities far and wide.
Mitchell is in no better place to get the understanding he needs to get his career back on track.
But he also has to take ownership of his actions. Be totally focused on training, tactics and contributing with non-stop effort in games.
Gould alluded to Mitchell’s poor attitude in the effort areas of the game and that is a weak point.
His stats compared to other fullbacks compare unfavourably when it comes to running metres, kick returns and hit-ups.
Fullbacks and wingers are essential to getting an attacking set up and running. Forwards can only get momentum in the middle if hard yards are already racked up by the back three.
There’s no doubting Mitchell’s ability to be a game breaker, create breaks and own the big moments.
But unless he adds the hard-working elements to his game, he will be known as someone who floats in and out of contests rather than someone who rolls up their sleeves to be a complete player.
By the time he returns from his month-long sabbatical from three weeks suspended and the bye next week, he could be walking into an entirely different Souths side with coach Jason Demetriou potentially getting the boot after this Saturday’s home clash with Cronulla.
The coach may be able to turn the tide without Mitchell. He’s leaving no stone unturned in his quest to keep his job – dumping Origin hooker Damien Cook to NSW Cup in a bid to shake up his side.
If the Bunnies can jag a couple of wins while Mitchell is out, there could still be time to save their season.
They’re a team that in recent years has shown that when they get on a roll, their momentum is hard to stop.
If they get the best version of Mitchell, there is the smallest glimmer of hope that they can salvage their finals campaign.
Unfortunately for them, they have stalled in 2024 and losing is becoming a habit.
They will definitely continue to pile up the losses if Mitchell displays the same low levels of commitment, discipline and effort.
Greg
Roar Pro
Ive asked what problems he caused at Roosters or Rep sides. Now lets go over what youve written. Got dropped from Origin for poor form and a sin bin in 2019. This is true, he was dropped. He is also one of many players to be dropped from a rep side for poor form. The sinbin also was hardly the 'stupid' decision you've labelled it. Most players are happy to commit a professional foul to prevent a try. The try Qld scored in that time, a 95m run off an intercept, can hardly be linked to the sinbinning. That aside, it was hardly as though his dropping or supposed reaction was problematic. NSW went on to win the series. He left Roosters because they would not sign his brother. There is no evidence of this. In fact the evidence would contradict this. Latrell signed with Souths in 2020. Shaq signed a train and trial contract in 2022 before eventually earning an upgraded contract. Furthermore, if leaving a club for better money and playing opportunities (fullback) elsewhere is considered to be causing problems for Roosters then over half the players in the competition have been causing problems for their (former) clubs. So, it appears he has caused very few problems at Roosters or NSW. In fact he has helped deliver premierships in 2 of his 4 years of first grade at Roosters. He has won Origin series for NSW and the only season he was dropped for poor form, NSW still won the series. Onto to the Souths stuff. Souths signed his brother, paid him stupid amounts of money and let him play fullback. We've touched on the brother. Now to be honest if he isn't Latrell's brother i don't think he gets the opportunity to earn his spot. So i wont disagree that this point is entirely baseless. However, he did have to earn his spot and he has done so. They have paid him well. Not sure what quantifies as stupid amounts of money but as a player and a drawcard Latrell is rightfully highly paid. Has his performances (on and off field) provided Souths with a return on their investment. Debatable, but certainly not a definitive no. He has been the best fullback option at the club for some time. I don't think it is so much they let him play fullback as much as he is their preferred fullback option. This may or may not change in the future. They sent him overseas for rehab. Yes. They are protecting their investment. Just like Manly with Trbojevic, Storm with Papenhauzen and a couple others who's names escape me currently. Signed Whigton when they couldn't afford to. The implication is that Souths only signed Wighton because he is Latrell's mate. Wighton is also a damn good footballer. I'd say that Souths only had the opportunity to sign him because he is Latrell's mate but took that option for their own benefit, not Latrell's. We need to wait and see if he proves to be a good signing. So whilst all of the above is in fact Souths being good to Latrell. For the most part it is also simply Souths trying to do what is best for Souths. You go on to say that he has repaid Souths with unnecessary suspensions, poor work ethic and a bad attitude. I largely agree with the unnecessary suspensions. I noted that in my original comment. I do however question the suspension argument, at least some of it. For example, there is no doubt in my mind he did not intend to hit Manu high. Hit him hard, yes. High, doubt it. Did he deserve his suspension, yes. Do i think he should be blamed for Souths missing their premiership shot as a result, no. Plenty of players are suspended from finals for incidental actions. There have however absolutely been some stupid and easily avoidable suspensions in Latrell's past, with the latest the prime example. Poor work ethic and bad attitude. We have no idea what he is like behind the scenes to know if this is true. It may well be that Mitchell indeed has a poor work ethic and a bad attitude and the rest of the team has had jack of it. It could be just as true that he is actually the one trying his best to lift the team in the face of any number other things that are the root cause of Souths current poor performances. There is something wrong at Souths. Good teams don't just unravel as they have done without reason. We just dont know if that reason has anything to do with Latrell.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Manly trainers can pat themselves on the back for the health and fitness of the squad , including reserve grade, except for one player. What does that tell you? Brown is in the best form he's been in for years and so was Lodge before he was injured , so their conditioning is fine.
mushi
Roar Guru
Also worth noting that JWH didn't publicly broadcast that booing him makes him play worse. He has been booed a few times, justifiably so, but you're better off letting him get inside his own head than providing an external focus.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Mitchell isn’t out pumping up his media profile. He’s in demand like most successful players
Horses for Courses
Roar Rookie
Lodge has had a good first season at every club he's been so to claim Manly have reformed him after 3 games is a pretty ludicrous suggestion. Nathan Brown is pretty much the same, 5 decent games isn't enough to start patting yourself on the back.
mushi
Roar Guru
Jwh also doesn't have the same media presence. You can't make a living and leverage the political power off your public perception gained for running around with a ball and then get stopped about the public perception. Well that's not accurate, you can it's just hypocritical.
mushi
Roar Guru
And I never said he was the worst. If your going to get all technical on your own comment then don’t fabricate mine. A) so your issue is Radley and JWH, who have a significantly lower media presence, should be getting the same attention? B) that you’re comparing two middle forwards with a fullback known for avoiding work. For that fullback to be in the conversation their % of foul play would have to be greater C) you left out the simulation part, which is the kicker here. The constant milking is hypocrisy that other “enforcers” don’t engage in. he wants license to operate in a certain way but wants everyone else held to a different standard. Kind of like your never said he was perfect but insist I’m saying he’s the worst.
mushi
Roar Guru
BS He did worse to Manu and didn’t get a lifetime ban. I’d say Radley does cop a fair bit, all deserved, but he also doesn’t play the on field victim like latrell
mushi
Roar Guru
Two things on that though. A) JWH doesn't stay down like he's shot or whinge about. If he did I'd imagine he would be. B) some of that is expected in the role of a middle forward and the number of collisions is higher, a fullback needs to go out of their way to be as involved in foul play as Mitchell which is ironic given he doesn't go looking for work otherwise
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
Mario From the NRL web site: Against Manly 120 metres (inc 35 post contact metres and 37 kick-return metres) Against Bronx 177 metres (inc 40 and 26) Against Roost 131 metres (inc 34 and 43) Against Dogs 97 metres (inc 36 and 26) Against Wahs 84 metres (inc 32 and 12) Previous seasons Year Total Ave Run Run Metres Metres 2016 2401 100 2017 2226 96 2018 1886 78 2019 2145 65 2020 1500 107 2021 2310 135 2022 1716 100 2023 2040 127 2024 611 122 Note: to get these figures, go to NRL.COM, select the Players tab and choose your player. The page will display a bunch of basic stats about Appearances, Scoring, Kicking, Attack, Defence etc then give a breakdown of the current season. The current season stats are shown in columns. You'll see only half a dozen (limited by the width of the screen). Click on one of these then use the right-arrow key to move the cursor to the right, and to open up extra columns.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Na, I don’t think 93 and 94. But my memory is not best. Fittler didn’t displace him till super league and I don’t think it was all the time.
Don
Roar Rookie
Cronulla would have to find $4-500K. No one is giving him $800K so Manly are going to be on the hook to pay the difference for 3 more years.
ScouseinOz
Roar Rookie
He's probably more consistently grubby than all of them over a longer period yes. He's bordering on Paul Gallen territory. Even Gallen admitted Ron Massey told him to stop being a "£$% on the pitch. Latrell just needs the same type of conversation. Almost every NRL club has a player who has either been taken out or injured by Latrell playing like an angry bloke playing close to the wind in the last 5 years. People didn't like Willie Mason, Billy Slater or Cameron Smith either. Billy Slater was incredibly grubby in the first half of his career. Sledging Corey Patterson and kicking people in the head or trying to kick the ball out of their hands close to the try line. No one liked Justin Hodges either because he played the pantomime villain for 15 years, particularly at Origin time. Latrell actually seems like a decent guy off the field. Of course there are a sizeable portion of dickheads in the country that won't like him for reasons expressed. The problem is that sad depressing reality is preventing Souths/himself from improving himself as a professional rugby league player for the better once he walks onto the field.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Sounds fair to be fair
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Wasn't Daley at centre?
Cam
Roar Rookie
I heard Latrell described as spiteful on a footy field. In a very subtle way, it differs from being "grubby". Not sure why he goes about his business that way, but yeah, he is a very spiteful player.
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
Hard to see where Cronulla could find the money for Schuster (even if they wanted him, which I doubt - given the way Williams is coming on.) Sharks have to find money for Addin Fonua Blake for next year, so finding an extra $800K for Schuster will be a bridge too far.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Fair point. I missed that. . I have learnt to use a period to fix that. . Like that.
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
Glory Bound: you'll note Tetley's entry is marked "Edited after posting". The Roar's user interface software has a habit of dropping paragraph breaks in edit mode. You should know - you're a frequent poster and I'd be surprised if you have escaped it.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Correct - anyway, he went on to win multiple world boxing titles. I heard he once turned down a pro basketball contract to play footy. Australia's greatest athlete? I'm on board. As I have said before....a nicer gentleman you would rarely meet - never drank, never took drugs, polite and civil. I've also heard that he has donated most of the money he made in footy and boxing to charities and such. Nice bloke