NRL 2022: Latrell Mitchell the superstar, the entrepreneur and the farmer
From his own YouTube channel, clothing label and devastating statistics – this is the making of Rabbitohs champion Latrell Mitchell.
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Latrell Mitchell is just 25-years-old yet he dominates rugby league headlines like no other player.
David Riccio looks at the parts that go towards making up the biggest superstar in the game.
HAND OF GOD
Latrell Mitchell’s influence in attack for Souths in 2022 is extraordinary.
From a total of 16 games so far this season, Mitchell has produced 31 line break assists – the second most across the entire NRL.
Cronulla’s Nicho Hynes finished the year on top with 33 in 25 games.
To further appreciate the level of which Mitchell’s attacking influence rates, Test star Cameron Munster played six more games than Mitchell and finished the season with 20 line break assists.
Mitchell is also only one of two fullbacks in the top 10 rankings for most try assists in the NRL.
He’s laid-on 20 tries, Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater 21 – and the remaining eight players on the list are halves, led by Parramatta’s Mitch Moses with 27.
HEAD AND HEART
Souths coach Jason Demetriou has quickly realised that Mitchell isn’t your average footballer.
The coach is prepared to withstand pressure and questions from the press for the sake of Mitchell recharging his heart and mind by excusing him from training to head home to his 222-hectare farm at Caffreys Flat on the mid north coast.
That was the case in the week leading into round 25 blockbuster against the Roosters, when Demetriou told Mitchell to go home for a few days.
“It’s about understanding your players,’’ Demetriou said.
“Latrell‘s level of interest is higher, if not the highest in the NRL, so he has to deal with more than what most players do.
“And at times, you have to recognise that and give him that break.”
BLOODLINES
Mitchell is one of three boys – Shaquai, Latrell and Lionel. Their mother Trish is a Goolagong.
Mitchell is a great nephew of Australian tennis legend Evonne Goolagong Cawley, although the NRL star has no relationship or connection to the former world number one.
Mitchell‘s father Matt was a talented footballer himself.
He was invited down from Taree to Sydney in 1989 for a trial with South Sydney.
“I played the trial in board shorts, footy boots with no socks. I scored five tries,” Matt told Athlete’s Voice.
Matt played President’s Cup (under 21’s) with the Rabbitohs before retiring due to shin splints.
The closest he got to playing first grade was one night in 1994 at the Sydney Football Stadium (Allianz) when he was asked to sit on the bench as a reserve.
He watched through gritted teeth as Brett Mullins scored four tries in the Raiders 48-8 drubbing of the Bunnies.
KILLER INSTINCT
Passionate, emotional and feeding off the intensity of the crowd, Mitchell has spoken openly about his love for playing in the biggest games of the year.
“It’s just the pressure cooker moments that I love, and that’s what I thrive on,’’ Mitchell said in the lead-up to Saturday’s preliminary final.
But perhaps the greatest insight into Mitchell’s strongest character trait comes from his father.
“Shaq is totally different from Latrell,” Matt told the Athletes’ Voice.
“He needs a lot of encouragement, whereas Latrell, he’s always had that killer instinct.
“He doesn’t like anyone beating him. And it always happened at home – Shaq and Lionel would team up and play against Latrell and other boys from down the road.
“And ‘Trell would always try and change the rules.”
DEFENCE
Only last week, Cronulla’s greatest-ever halfback Tommy Bishop compared Mitchell to the legendary Steve Rogers.
“He reminds me of Steve Rogers (former Test centre) in that he was a great defensive player as well,‘’ Bishop said.
Fox League have piles of attacking footage, but they should show a highlights reel of Mitchell’s try saves, how he uses his hulking frame to get under the ball carrier or chop the legs of his rival before the tryline.
Of the four remaining full backs still playing ahead of this weekend, Mitchell boasts the lowest miss tackle rate.
On average, he has missed a measly 0.4 tackles per game this season.
BRICKS AND MORTAR
Mitchell has made smart moves with his money from the moment he began playing NRL as an 18 year-old with the Roosters in 2016.
By the time he was 21, he had become the first member of the Mitchell family to own their own home.
It remains a focus of genuine pride within the Mitchell family.
He has his 222-hectare property outside Taree, while more recently, he reportedly paid $4.275 million last month for a luxurious five bedroom entertainer at Ramsgate, in Sydney’s south.
“He’s worked really hard to put himself in that position and he’s very focused on getting all he can out of rugby league and have something in the future,’’ Mitchell’s agent Matt Rose said.
“I can only admire how driven he is.”
SOCIAL MEDIA
Mitchell uses his Instagram account to invite his 280,000 followers behind the curtain of a self-confessed,“ full-time farmer and part-time footballer.”
He takes fans into the Rabbitohs dressing room and onto the training paddock. Or, across the US, during his 15-day injury rehabilitation journey mid-year.
In his videos, he takes his followers onto his grandparents farm in Taree, where alongside his father, they drive quad bikes and tractors, fixing fences or pushing cattle.
He also uses his platform to call-out social injustice and racism, which last year included him taking racially charged social media messages to the NRL Integrity Unit and NSW Police.
THE ENTREPRENEUR AND ENDORSEMENTS
This is Mitchell’s first season of a two-year deal with Nike having previously been backed by Adidas.
Mitchell is weighing-up a stream of offers from several other major brands and companies, but there has also been a conscious decision made by the 25 year-old not to spread himself thin.
It is a less is more approach to any prospective off-field endorsements.
“There’s been so many people that have reached out wanting to associate with ‘Trell’, but he’s particular and takes his time and does his due diligence on what he wants to commit to,’’ Rose said.
“Above everything else, it’s about winning footy games and playing well.
“The appeal of Latrell is that he’s very unique and special in a sense that there is only one Latrell Mitchell in the NRL and that’s on the field and off the field.
“You can go through the competition and there’s no other player who attracts the attention that Latrell does.
“You only need to turn up to a school footy carnival to watch what happens. It’s unbelievable.’’
Mitchell also has his own YouTube account which showcases the values behind his clothing label, Winmarra.
The clothing range includes caps, t-shirts and fishing shirts.
Mitchell explains the vision behind the Winmarra brand: “The vision of Winmarra is simple; to connect people from all corners of the earth, no matter their culture or heritage, to pass on knowledge and connect with the land.
“When you wear Winmarra, you take with you the resilience and strength of the people from where they came.‘’
Rose adds: “He’s always looking for new initiatives, he’s very entrepreneurial.
“He’s always looking at different business opportunities that may exist for himself.’’
PERSONAL GROWTH
Few could’ve predicted a season quite like this for Mitchell.
Ben Hunt is likely to win the Dally M medal, yet Mitchell has been the headline with more back pages than any other player this season.
“People forget he’s only 25,’’ Rose said.
“It’s scary to think that we still haven’t seen the best of Latrell Mitchell.
“It’s going to be pretty cool to see when he peaks.
“Even now, on his day, at his peak, I don’t think anybody can go with him.
“He has the ability to do everything. There’s heaps of players that are really good in some areas, but not many players that can do what he does.
“It’s probably him and Tom Trbojevic in that category of players, who can have such a devastating impact.’’
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