South Sydney’s decline suggests a return to the bad old days, with golden boy AWOL again.
Unlike Greg Inglis’s Rabbitohs fairytale, Latrell Mitchell is dealing with the responsibilities that comes with the number one jersey.
He came at Redfern overweight, with nagging injuries, and under a cloud of negative news. But he was a champion, a representative player at the state and national levels, and an Indigenous talisman. South Sydney understood this man might reignite a golden age.
He had debuted as a youth and won premierships as a centre, but his true calling was as a fullback. That is where the premium vehicles in rugby league are parked, and that is why they are so expensive. With number one on his back, the champion colt became
Greg Inglis, not Latrell Mitchell, arrived at Souths in 2011, moved to fullback in 2012, and delivered a premiership in 2014, the first in 43 years for a club plagued by wasted potential, bad luck, shady management, and poor on-field outcomes.
Those similar criticisms are being leveled against the 2024 Rabbitohs, who are lowest on the NRL ladder after a 1-4 start, putting coach Jason Demetriou’s career on the line this weekend. And where is his No. 1 star, Mitchell? Suspended again for a risky contact charge.
For rusty red and green machine members, it’s a sorrowful return to the bad old days. South Sydney’s slump may be their worst start to a season since 2008, but they went 0-7 before winning, and 0-12 before winning in 2006.
This is awful. Souths, the NRL’s most devastating attacking side, lacks flair and appears unhappy. Their Origin players are clearly out of form, and one, senior hooker Damien Cook, has recently been dropped. With an internal assessment underway and the season in free fall, heads are being sought. Mitchell’s melons, worth $875,000 per year, are the tallest above the parapet.
After Inglis provided the 2014 fairytale, Mitchell’s 2020 signing was supposed to cement a decade of Rabbitohs dominance. The NRL’s brightest star and its oldest club, none other than his father’s, with the NRL’s most extensive Indigenous history. Mitchell mostly came to play fullback.
Fullbacks are rugby league superstars. The No. 1 shirt carries both power and responsibility. They play behind the lines, diffusing high kicks and making try-saving tackles, but they spearhead their teams, inverting the arrow of attack to explode past the line.
Mitchell, meanwhile, has not produced in the same way that Inglis has. He also takes a lot of heat for it, with rival fans regularly booing and jeering him. However, statistics do important. In four seasons with the Roosters, he played 96 games and scored 65 tries. In the same period at Souths, injury and suspension have resulted in only 64 games and 34 tries.
Mitchell is not only playing less games and scoring fewer points with less effect, but he has also not been available for Souths when they needed him the most. He was injured when they fell one game short of the grand final in 2010 and suspended during their unsuccessful attempt to reach the finals in 2023.
Between, Souths advanced to the 2021 grand final, their second decider in 50 years. Mitchell, however, was once again missing. Joey Manu was forced to miss six weeks of action after caving in his cheek. It cost his club considerably more. They were defeated 14-12 that year by Penrith’s late intercept, leaving fans wondering if Mitchell’s ability to perform magic was the difference.
Mitchell’s filthy appearance did not disappear in 2024, but rather returned as quickly as his potency faded. Late hits, lifting tackles, lifted elbows, wayward boots, and scraped fingers across the face, among other things. Only a few of these have been charged, but they have all sparked outrage among gaming lovers.
Souths continue to protect their golden boy. Former coach Wayne Bennett let Mitchell skip training to chill at the farm and Demetriou has spurned calls to snap his star’s lazy streak and curb his red mist by moving him closer to the action.
Now rumours of unrest within the team are rising. Allegations of favouritism to Mitchell saw club legend Sam Burgess walk out as assistant coach mid-year and winger Alex Johnston recently saw red when Demetriou praised a tackle by Mitchell that concussed his opponent.
At Souths’ under-siege headquarters this week, Mitchell apologised to his team for the “stupid things”. Where normally he would retreat to his farm, he vowed to stay in camp, doing extras on his own game and helping others with theirs. At 26, after nine seasons at the top, perhaps it is time Mitchell reflected more deeply. He has scattered some magic at Souths, but his legacy is shaky.
Without Mitchell yet again, Demetriou has decided to blood youth in a desperate bid to beat the Sharks and save Souths’ season (and his own job). Local junior Jye Gray – at 170cm the shortest current player in the NRL – will wear the No 1 jersey. The pint-sized rookie has big boots to fill but, as Mitchell might remind him, reputations don’t win rugby league games.
This article was amended on 12 April 2024. A previous version had incorrectly stated Jye Gray was the shortest player in NRL history.
