Jason Demetriou apologises over Instagram comment as ‘damning video’ emerges of Latrell Mitchell

Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou has reportedly apologised to his players for liking a sledge on social media.

South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou and fullback Latrell Mitchell.

Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou has reportedly apologised to his players for liking a comment on social media that sledged two of his players.

Demetriou claims he accidentally liked the fan’s comment on a post on the club’s official Instagram page that slammed Liam Knight and Jacob Host following a loss to the Raiders in Round 13.

The comment read: “We had Liam Knight and Jacob Host playing for us tonight. It’s a wonder we didn’t lose by 50 having those clowns pretending to be first graders.”

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Demetriou has unliked the comment and he told The SMH on Tuesday that he didn’t realise he’d liked it in the first place, and has since told Host was an accident.

Knight wasn’t picked again after the loss for six weeks and played just one more game for Souths before his mid-season switch to the Bulldogs.

The Rabbitohs are facing internal unrest after with reports that Demetriou hasn’t held star duo Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell to the same standards as the rest of the squad.

Figures inside the club’s football department have reportedly made their concerns known to Rabbitohs officials. Those include assistant coaches Sam Burgess and John Morris.

Rabbitohs head coach Jason Demetriou. Getty

Souths have the by this week then face arch rivals the Roosters in Round 27 clash that will likely determine if they play finals.

Rabbitohs officials have invested heavily in Mitchell and sent him to the US to work with specialist Bill Knowles to recover him a hamstring injury.

Teammates and powerbrokers were also reportedly left with a bad taste in their mouth after footage emerged of the star fullback sculling a beer on stage with country singer Luke Combs during the week.

Speaking on NRL360, veteran rugby league reporter Phil Rothfield revealed that Walker and Demetriou had an argument following their loss to the Sharks.

“Let’s start with the rumour about Cody Walker and the coach... after they lost to Cronulla in Perth they had quite an exchange,” Rothfield said.

“I’ve spoken to people about that and they insist that while they may have had a difference of opinion it was definitely not personal. Cody has no problem working with Jason.”

“There’s a reason why you are a premier club and you aren’t winning, it’s not a coincidence,” Anasta said.

“There’s a story that just broke that Latrell and Cody are not being held to the same standards as the other players in the team, this is getting louder.

“Discipline comes from standards which comes from training which comes from taking the standards set at training on to the footy field. They are last in errors, second last in completion rates.”

Anasta also highlighted a number of moments in which Mitchell was left in backplay or in the wrong place in defence against the Knights.

“Tell me another fullback in the game who stands still like that and doesn’t support up the middle of the ruck,” Anasta said.

Mitchell has been at the centre of controversy since his return from a calf injury. (Photo by Emily Barker/Getty Images)

“Tell me whatever you want to tell me and he is not solely to blame, but he is the leader at that club. He is the barometer and once he starts making better decisions and wears his heart on his sleeve (they will get better).”

While The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read questioned why the blame was placed solely on Mitchell, both Rothfield and Anasta explained the footage painted a clear picture.

“Ready, that is really damning video, it shows a lazy footballer to me and he is on over $1 million dollars, he hasn’t played much football,” Rothfield said.

“We aren't just blaming him, you are taking this like it’s an attack on him, majority of tis team are playing well under par right now,” Anasta said.

“It’s been a few months now, it is not a one off. We are talking about the standards and discipline as a leader, we are talking about the things off the field.”

“I know where he is coming from, we don’t want to dump it all on Latrell, but that video is so damning and I don’t think Latrell would want to watch that,” Rothfield added.

“When you are on that sort of money, and he’s on double what Dylan Edwards is on, you’ve got to look at Edwards’ effort plays.

“They were total opposite to what we just saw... that was a desperation, season defining game yesterday and from that video I saw, he didn’t really turn up.”

It has also emerged a Rabbitohs boss reportedly approached Wayne Bennett regarding a potential return to Redfern after his stint with the Dolphins is complete.

However, club officials denied the approach.

Originally published as Jason Demetriou apologises over Instagram comment as ‘damning video’ emerges of Latrell Mitchell