South Sydney cannot afford one rule for Latrell Mitchell and another rule for the rest
South Sydney superstar Latrell Mitchell has been at the centre of a storm as the Rabbitohs have lurched from one crisis to the next - will it be the wake-up call he, and the club, needs?
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The Chicago Bulls dynasty of The Last Dance fame were a team of exceptions. One rule for some, another rule for others.
Dennis Rodman, for example, had an appetite for rebounds and partying. Every now and then, when it all got too much, he would ask coach Phil Jackson for a break to blow off some steam.
More often than not, it involved a trip to rugby league’s new second home, Las Vegas. Jackson obliged because he knew that Rodman was cut from a different cloth.
He needed to occasionally let down his hair, which tended to be bleached a different colour on any given day.
His teammates accepted it because they knew it was the only way to get the best of him when it got to the pointy end of the season.
It was a policy occasionally fraught with peril - Michael Jordan once had to travel to Vegas to find Rodman after the wild child had been given 48 hours off and spent it partying with his former wife Carmen Electra.
Rodman was reluctantly dragged back to Chicago, trained the house down and continued to bang the boards with the best of them. He partied hard, but he worked harder.
Jordan was a law unto himself. On one occasion, when another of his former coaches Doug Collins threatened to practice on Christmas Eve after a loss, Jordan simply said no.
Collins wilted and the team spent Christmas Eve with their families. For a time, Jordan’s friends were allowed to travel on the team plane and stay in the team hotel.
He was the only player afforded such privilege. Again, the team knew their best chance to win was to have a happy Jordan. If it meant he was governed by another set of rules, so be it.
When a beat writer, who covered the team for years, documented one of their seasons, he titled the book ‘The Jordan Rules’ in deference to how their superstar was treated.
Which brings us to South Sydney this week and the suggestion that you need to have one set of rules for the entire playing group. That every player needs to be held to the same standard.
Latrell Mitchell is cut from a different cloth. He walks to the beat of his own drum. His coaches make an exception for him because when he is happy, he makes the team better. He helps them win.
If it means Mitchell gets a few days off to travel to the farm, so be it. His teammates have been content to turn a blind eye because he makes them look better as well.
The past six weeks or so, it hasn’t been working and Mitchell is suddenly to blame. He doesn’t run enough. His work ethic is poor. He doesn’t exert himself. He isn’t fit. He fights with his teammates. He fights with his coaches.
Mitchell has long been a magnet for both praise and criticism. You’re either with him or against him. He seems to thrive on being polarising, although you sense at times it weighs heavily on his shoulders.
He has been at the centre of a storm at South Sydney as the Rabbitohs have lurched from one crisis to the next. Their season is on the brink and only a win in the final round will guarantee them a place in the finals.
Souths fans will be hoping the past week has been a wake-up call for their highest paid player. He was clearly disappointed with his performance last weekend and they need him fit and firing should they make the finals (Mitchell is suspended and will not play against the Sydney Roosters in round 27).
Coach Jason Demetriou has made it his mission to forge a bond with Mitchell. When he became coach, he travelled to Mitchell’s farm and spent time with his talismanic fullback. He has apparently given Mitchell latitude that is not necessarily afforded to others.
That’s fine when Mitchell is flogging himself at training and producing on the field. In recent weeks, that hasn’t been the case. He has been down and Souths have struggled. Unless things change, it might be time for a new set of rules at South Sydney.
Perhaps Demetriou could look to legendary New England coach Bill Belichick for some inspiration. Belichick has seemingly never been a fan of playing favourites.
He makes few exceptions. When new faces arrived at the Patriots, they walked away stunned from their first video review when Belichick turned on future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady.
“What kind of f..king throw is this?” Belichick screamed.
“I can get f..king Johnny Foxborough from down the street to make a better f..king throw than this.”
Johnny Foxborough can’t save Souths right now. Only Mitchell can.
* * * * *
Penrith looked good things to make it three premierships on the trot until Jarome Luai was escorted off Bluebet Stadium on Thursday night.
Halfback Nathan Cleary is touted as the most important player at the Panthers but it is Luai who has the Midas touch at the foot of the mountains.
When he plays, the Panthers usually win. Their winning record with Luai in their line-up soars beyond 80 per cent. When Cleary plays it surprisingly drops to less than 70 per cent.
The Panthers depth has been one of their real strengths over the past three years but Luai has rarely been absent. He missed a handful of games last year but was back for the finals as the Panthers went on a tear.
He is the spark for the Panthers and Penrith’s premiership odds noticeably drifted on Thursday night. So they should.
If bare statistics are to be believed, Luai may be the most important player in the competition. More important than Mitchell at Souths. More important than Kalyn Ponga at Newcastle.
More important than Cameron Munster in Melbourne. More important than Nicho Hynes to Cronulla.
And yes, more important than Cleary at his own club. The Panthers already needed to beat the odds to become the first side in the modern era to win three successive premierships.
That job has only got more difficult.
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Originally published as South Sydney cannot afford one rule for Latrell Mitchell and another rule for the rest
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