Jason lashes Latrell critics
South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou has applauded Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker for their continued support of Ezra Mam and called out former players who said NRL stars “should be in trouble” for commenting about Spencer Leniu’s racism case before it went to the judiciary.
Leniu was handed an eightmatch ban for calling Broncos fiveeighth Ezra Mam “a monkey”, with a number of Indigenous athletes – including
South Sydney’s star duo – posting their thoughts on Instagram before Monday’s hearing.
Former Blues coach Brad Fittler criticised those posts, while Anthony Mundine also attacked Mitchell online.
“I find it interesting when people are telling people to shut up when they’re sitting there having opinions every minute of the day,” Demetriou said.
“The game is littered with opinions, the game is littered with agenda and people’s thoughts, whether they are right or wrong.
“Their stance doesn’t change, and it hasn’t changed for years for their whole time in first grade. They represent their people really well and I’m really proud of them for that.”
The Mundine criticism got personal, with the former NRL star attacking Mitchell’s form despite the fullback having a strong game in Las Vegas.
“I’ve known ‘Choc’ since I was a 14-year-old and I’ve been friends with him for a long time,” Demetriou said.
Demetriou has called on his players to continue to voice their feelings no matter what the issue is, with the Rabbitohs coach declaring “if you stand for nothing, you fall for everything”.
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