Wayne Bennett shuts door on Latrell Mitchell to South Sydney rumours
South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett insists wantaway Rooster Latrell Mitchell won’t be joining the Rabbitohs soon but is it just a ploy from the wily super coach?
NRL
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Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has insisted Latrell Mitchell will not be joining South Sydney.
The Rabbitohs have been tipped to be Mitchell’s new home following his highly-publicised falling out with the Roosters.
Dane Gagai and Alex Johnston have been mooted as the potential Rabbitohs players to make way for Mitchell to arrive at Redfern.
Bennett secured a blue-chip signing for 2021 this week when Gold Coast Titans star Jai Arrow committed to South Sydney to become Sam Burgess’ replacement.
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And he reckons that was the signing he was chasing, not Mitchell despite speculation South Sydney wants the Kangaroos gun.
“We won’t be signing Latrell,” Bennett told Blindside.
“We have enough centres. I am happy with Braidon Burns and James Roberts.
“I needed a forward to replace Sam.”
Bennett has played ducks and drakes with player signings before.
Earlier this year he insisted Roberts would not be leaving the Broncos to sign with South Sydney, only for the switch to happen weeks later.
Bennett later admitted he lied so the Rabbitohs could conduct negotiations without relentless speculation.
PHONE FREE
Titans players had to surrender their mobile phones during last week’s training camp in NSW.
New Gold Coast coach Justin Holbrook got the players to hand their phones in during the four-day camp at Coffs Harbour.
The exercise helped the Titans players bond rather than sit around looking at their phones during down time.
The camp was structured around league-specific training rather than army-style camps other NRL coaches have grown fond of.
HEAT BASHED
The Brisbane Heat copped a reality check about how hard it is to lure crowds to sporting events on the Gold Coast last week.
The Heat played the first of two Big Bash matches this summer at Metricon Stadium last Friday night against the Melbourne Stars.
Unlike last summer, the weather was fine leading into the match, but the crowd of only 11,969 was well down on the Heat’s hopes of selling out the 21,000-seat stadium.
Pre-Christmas Big Bash crowds are not great, but the Heat were hoping for a lot more than what turned up for the Stars game which featured some excellent entertainment from Glenn Maxwell and Tom Banton.
The Heat will host the Scorchers at Metricon on New Year’s Day and are hoping for a lot more to come through the turnstiles.
They are in the second year of a three-year deal to host home games at Metricon and want to have a long-term Gold Coast presence.
But if the numbers don’t stack up then the Heat may have to look elsewhere.
GUESS WHO?
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Originally published as Wayne Bennett shuts door on Latrell Mitchell to South Sydney rumours