Teammate Burgess urges Mitchell to be smarter
SOUTH Sydney prop Thomas Burgess wants Latrell Mitchell to curb his emotional approach after he was suspended for two weeks for a swinging arm, opening the door for unwanted Rabbitoh Alex Johnston to replace him at fullback.
Mitchell’s reckless attack to the face of Wests Tigers fiveeighth Josh Reynolds after he accidentally kicked Rabbitohs winger Campbell Graham has attracted criticism, but his teammates agree that something has to change.
As one of four siblings, Burgess understands the furious feeling that hits you when your brother is attacked on the football field.
And while the English bookend endorses Mitchell’s protection of a mate, he concedes the marquee fullback needs to control his emotions.
“I’ve been in that situation before where a teammate might have got hurt, but you have just got to be smart,” Burgess said.
“That is probably where Latrell went wrong. He stuck up for his mate, and we like to see that, but we don’t want him to be suspended, so we will look at doing that a different way.”
The Wests Tigers were disappointed that Mitchell only received a two-game suspension while Joey Leilua copped a four-week ban for what they believe was a similar incident during their Round 8 loss to Penrith.
Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook doesn’t agree with the Tigers’ view, saying the Leilua swinging arm was unprovoked by Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards.
“Latrell seen his mate get kicked in the head and he reacted to protect one of his mates,” Cook said.
“That is what we want here at the club, whereas in the Leilua
tackle, I don’t think Edwards did anything prior to aggravate the situation.
“They (the Tigers) are obviously a bit dirty, but the judiciary has dealt with both of them.
“We are going to be without Latrell for a couple of weeks, and he understands that he did wrong. Obviously, he didn’t want to collect Josh in the head while doing that, but he has got his punishment now and we move on.