Latrell Mitchell racist abuse: Nicho Hynes responds, offers to bring teenager into Indigenous All Stars camp

Dally M winner Nicho Hynes says he hopes the 15-year-old who abused Latrell Mitchell is not “named and shamed” and offered him an opportunity to learn about Indigenous culture.

Nicho Hynes.

Cronulla superstar Nicho Hynes has suggested that the teenager at the centre of the game’s latest racism scandal should be invited into Indigenous All Stars camp next year – provided it gets the green light from Latrell Mitchell.

Hynes, speaking after the Sharks’ win over Parramatta at Commbank Stadium on Friday night, revealed that he had reached out to Mitchell on Friday morning to make sure the South Sydney superstar was okay.

Amid calls for the 15-year-old who called Mitchell “a b … k dog” at Bluebell Stadium to receive a life ban from the NRL, Hynes suggested education was just as important and raised the idea of bringing the teenager into All Stars camp so he could gain a greater appreciation of Indigenous culture.

Hynes also dismissed suggestions that the teenager should be named and shamed.

“If Latrell was open to it and the boys were, why not?” Hynes said.

“He would be able to see what goes on and how proud of our culture we are. We have to make sure this kid’s wellbeing is okay because he is going to be copping it.

Nicho Hynes in Cronulla’s Indigenous jersey.

“Whatever the consequence is, it needs to be hard on him but it needs to be fair and we all need to check in and make sure he is okay too.

“High emotions this morning I would have said, ‘yep, ban him for life, he needs to be punished’. Once my emotions got intact and I found out it was a 15-year-old kid, first you don’t want to name and shame him.

“You don’t want everyone knowing who he is because they will go after him and they will forever be mean to him and throw comments at him.

“That is not good for anyone’s wellbeing. I think you need to put him in a situation where he gets educated. I always try to put the shoe on what the other person is going through.

“Some people speak without knowing what they are saying. When I was 15, I knew about racism so I would never have done that.

“When I was a 15-year-old kid, I would have said some things before I even taught about it. Nothing to do with racism but you just say it.

Hynes wants the teenager who abused Latrell Mitchell to be invited into the Indigenous All Stars camp.

“The people around him need to help him more – his family, his schoolteachers. The environment they are in, sometimes they don’t get taught enough.”

Hynes and Mitchell have known each other for a decade or more and the respect between the pair was on show in last year’s finals series as they embraced in the middle of Allianz Stadium after South Sydney eliminated Cronulla from the finals race.

The pair were teammates in the Indigenous All Stars side in Rotorua earlier this year and Hynes was heartbroken when he woke to news of Mitchell being targeted by racial taunts.

“I woke up to it this morning and it is really sad that it is still happening,” Hynes said.

“It is 2023 now and there have been so many things happening around the world like Black Lives Matter and an Indigenous kid (Cassius Turvey) dying over in Perth.

Latrell Mitchell, Nicho Hynes and Cody Walker of the Indigenous All Stars celebrate their victory.

“We still have racist comments being made. So it just needs to stop. There needs to be a way these kids at school get educated more on how to talk and how to be around certain people, parents, footy coaches – across the board everyone needs to learn.

“I just feel like some people think because we are athletes or we go out and play footy, they can say whatever they want to us.

“That is not the case. Certain things they say we can shrug off but racist remarks, you can’t shrug those off.

“Trell wears his heart on his sleeve, he is so proud of who he is and his culture and his family, He puts bums on seats and entertains everyone.

“Fans wouldn’t get an entertaining game if Latrell didn’t play sometimes. They need to respect that, respect who he is and respect his culture.

“Not just him and the wider community — every aboriginal man or Polynesian.”