NRL 2022: Latrell Mitchell admits players ‘milk’ penalties – but the Rabbitohs don’t

Latrell Mitchell says it’s not the players fault that they are perceived to be staying down to milk penalties, rather the fault lies with officials.

“You can call me Trell Milk now.”

That was South Sydney superstar Latrell Mitchell’s response to the suggestion that he and other players stayed down to milk penalties in Sunday’s brutal encounter with the Sydney Roosters.

Referee Ashley Klein dished out a record seven sinbins but other incidents of players appearing to stay down to draw a penalty raised eyebrows in the spiteful clash.

At one point, Mitchell, who is known as Trell Mitt by the Rabbitohs faithful, was slow to his feet after a heavy hit by the Roosters defence.

But the fullback insisted the tackle warranted a closer look.

Latrell Mitchell has denied he 'dived' during the final against the Roosters. Picture: NRL Images

“You can call me Trell Milk now,” Latrell said.

“I play the game hard and tough.

“Honestly, I have never felt the forces they brought, I think they were head hunting a little bit.

“But at the end of the day, that’s the game of rugby league… if the bunker doesn’t see it, the ref doesn’t see it… that’s the game.

“I didn’t do anything, I didn’t lay down. I got up on my knee and looked at the ref thinking pretty much ‘what’s going on’.”

Mitchell did concede the bunker’s constant intervention allowed for the practice to happen but rejected the notion that his teammates were laying down in the elimination final.

“Well, the bunker has taken over the game… but that’s the game of rugby league at the moment,” Mitchell said.

Latrell Mitchell says the bunkers intervention encourages players to ‘milk’ penalties.

“You can call it as it is but we don’t lay down for penalties we don’t look for it. It is what it is.

“Like I said, I had a situation happen in that game. For us now, it’s not to focus on what’s happened or what everyone is saying, it’s about what we can do today and tomorrow.”

Five-eighth Cody Walker said it was easy to confuse staying down for a player just simply feeling the after effects of a heavy collision or contact.

“I don’t know if many people have been hit with an arm like Jared’s (Waerea-Hargreaves) or any of those sort of guys. With the protocols and that, if you get up stumbling then you’ve got to go off. To try and gather yourself before you play the ball is quite important,” Walker said.

Latrell Mitchell confronts the Roosters players after the game. Picture: NRL Images

On Monday, the NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley admitted the trend of staying down was a growing concern for the game (see below).

But Mitchell said the practice could be eradicated if match officials showed more consistency on the ruling of foul play.

“It’s semi-final footy, the refs like to put away the whistle a little bit and that’s how it should be but I guess you have to be consistent in a way where it works for both sides,” Mitchell said.

Forward Tom Burgess is facing a two-match ban with an early plea for a high shot on James Tedesco, which left the Roosters skipper unable to return to the field.

Mitchell said South Sydney officials should investigate the possibility of having the suspension deferred, in a similar fashion to Penrith winger Taylan May, who has been allowed to serve a two-match ban next season after being found guilty of assault.

“Can he serve it next year, I’ll pay his fine,” Mitchell joked.

ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys defended the handling of May’s ban, claiming fans wanted the best players on the field in the biggest games of the season.

Mitchell said the same argument could be made about Burgess and his importance to South Sydney.

“As Peter said, it lets the fans down. Big Tommy is a big part of our DNA and he is going to be definitely missed,” Mitchell said.

“There is an argument to be had there.

“But I suppose it’s higher than me and it’s up to the club to see where we can take it… it’s out of my hands, out of Tommy’s control.”

DIVERS ON NOTICE AS NRL MOVES TO STAMP OUT ‘CONCERNING’ TREND

The NRL has put players who lay down to milk penalties on notice with the governing body to look at introducing deterrents to stamp out the ‘concerning’ practice in an off-season review.

The issue came to a head in Sunday’s chaotic elimination final between the Sydney Roosters and South Sydney, where referee Ashley Klein dished out a record seven sin bins for four play.

But a number of other incidents raised eyebrows among fans where players appeared to stay down in a bid to win a penalty during the match.

In one incident, Rabbitohs playmaker Lachlan Ilias stayed down claiming a crusher tackle that was not penalised. Fullback Latrell Mitchell stopped play, even placing the ball on the ground while it was still live, in an attempt to draw a reaction from the referee.

The NRL’s head of football, Graham Annesley, conceded the practice was a growing blight on the game and needed to be addressed before it turned into an “ongoing problem”.

Head of football Graham Annesley. Picture: AAP/James Gourley

“Yes, I am concerned about the issue of players waiting for the intervention of the officials but that’s not isolated to Sunday,” Annesley said.

“That is something we are monitoring and reviewing, and we’ll review that in the off-season. I’m not going to stand here and pretend it’s not something we are monitoring and that we are unprepared to deal with it.”

Dealing with the issue is a tricky predicament for the NRL, given the game’s commitment to protecting players from illegal contact to the head and neck of players.

But Annesley said the NRL needed to ensure rules did not encourage players to feign injury to the head and neck to gain an advantage.

“I can’t stand here today and tell you I have the magic solution to the problem. It’s not something we can address through mandating certain player reactions,” Annesley said.

“But where rules are being breached, we have to (ensure) we don’t have procedures and rules in place that actually encourage players to stay down when they are not affected by the tackle.”

Sunday’s clash between the fierce arch rivals turned into a powder keg of emotion and aggression that exploded on numerous occasions, leaving Klein under fire and facing suggestions he lost control of the match.

In a staunch defence of Klein, Annesley said the match officials were the only people on the field who did not lose control in the spiteful contest.

“No I don’t,” Annesley said when asked if Klein lost control of the match.

“I commend them for staying the course. In fact, they were, in some cases, the only ones who maintained control.

“Had they not taken that action, we could have seen more serious situations in that game. So I commend them for staying the course and making sure they maintained that standard.”

But in a scathing rebuke of the players, Annesley said the lack of discipline shown had ‘marred the spectacle’ and that some of the game’s biggest stars had let down the wider community.

“We’ve got a responsibility to the game and the entire community. That’s not an acceptable way to play the game,” Annesley said.

“There was a lot of good football … but these incidents that took place marred the spectacle and brought the referees into the game where there was no need.

Connor Watson is collared by Taane Milne. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty

“Players know where the line in the sand is and on multiple occasions they crossed that line.”

The stop-start nature of the affair meant the match took 107 minutes to complete, compared to the average of 97 minutes seen this season.

While some pundits have accused the bunker of overreaching and claimed it should only be used in try scoring scenarios, Annesley defended the intervention of the video referee during matches for foul play.

“We’ve spent an enormous amount of time talking to the referees coaching staff, the referees themselves about trying to maintain continuity as much as possible, cutting our stoppages,” Annesley said.

“We face the possibility that a team can be left without a player because of the incidents of foul play that match officials might not see.

“Is that going to be acceptable to say ‘we’ll just cop that’ because people don’t cop that.

“They will say sack the referee, why didn’t we use the bunker.”

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Originally published as NRL 2022: Latrell Mitchell admits players ‘milk’ penalties – but the Rabbitohs don’t