Latrell pours heart out to teammates
An “apologetic” Latrell Mitchell has addressed his costly three-match suspension with teammates as Rabbitohs players say they have to take more accountability as pressure continues to mount on coach Jason Demetriou who is fighting to save his job.
The first five weeks of the season couldn’t have gone any worse for a club that led the league after 11 rounds a year ago but now sits at the foot of the table with just one win.
Demetriou reportedly has one game to save his job.
The coach can only do so much, and his talented team haven’t helped him with their performances, with Mitchell’s ban coming at the worst possible time with games against the Sharks, Storm and Panthers coming up.
Star fullback Mitchell was placed on report twice during the horror loss to the Warriors, issued a concerning act notice for a lifting tackle and suspended for three games for a raised elbow which hit Shaun Johnson in the face.
Demetriou called out the “stupid acts” after the game, and teammate Siliva Havili revealed on Tuesday that Mitchell addressed the ban with the players. “Trell has addressed that. He’s owned his actions and he said what he’s said to us as a playing group as a leader of this team,” he said, with Mitchell training with the reserves on Tuesday.
“He was definitely apologetic for what’s happened.
“He had his best pre-season not that long ago.
“This is what happens when you’re losing – you get a lot of pressure on your back, and as the star player on our team, he’s going to be the one copping it.”
Great mate Jack Wighton wasn’t in a mood to discuss Mitchell’s actions.
“If you want to ask Latrell questions then you can talk to Trell,” Wighton snapped back.
“I’m here to talk about me and what I can do for the team.
“I am a mate (of his) and a mate protects a mate by not talking about him.”
The former Raider was more willing to talk about his coach’s future, with Wighton probably not expecting this sort of turmoil when he joined South Sydney.
“We’ve all got Wighton said. his back,”