Apologetic Trent Robinson says Latrell Mitchell won’t be forced out of rugby league following vile abuse

Trent Robinson has issued a stunning apology to Latrell Mitchell, declaring “people don’t like strong Indigenous voices like” him.

Trent Robinson head coach of the Roosters and Latrell Mitchell of the Rabbitohs talk at full time during the NRL Elimination Final match between the Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Allianz Stadium on September 11, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Trent Robinson has apologised on behalf of his club after it emerged the spectator who allegedly racially abused Latrell Mitchell on Thursday night was wearing a Roosters jersey.

The Roosters coach spoke passionately about how disappointing it is that racism is still so common in Australia, while Robinson also backed Mitchell to stay in the game and become an even stronger Indigenous leader.

The incident occurred on Thursday night at BlueBet Stadium in Penrith when a young person in the crowd allegedly hurled vile racial abuse towards Mitchell as he was heading up the tunnel.

Players heard the comment and immediately identified the person who reportedly fled the scene.

It’s not the first time something like this has happened in Penrith. Rabbitohs legend Greg Inglis was racially abused in 2018 at the same venue.

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Latrell Mitchell interacted with fans in Penrith on Thursday just an hour after one spectator allegedly racially abused him. Picture; Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“It’s really disappointing because we don’t represent the Roosters in that way. That’s not how we want to act as Roosters,” Robinson said on Friday morning.

“Whether we like it or not, they were wearing our colours. We have to accept that, but that doesn’t make them a Rooster.

“If you want to act like that, abuse people and do it racially like that, then that’s not who we are and that’s not who we want to be. We need to get better than that.

“From us, apologising from the Roosters to Latrell is important, even though it’s not directly one of our fans who support us who did that. That’s not right.”

Mitchell’s teammates were sickened by what was allegedly said in the tunnel. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Robinson was asked if he could believe something like that still happened in 2023. His response is a sad reflection of how far we have to go as a country when it comes to racism.

“Yes (I can believe it) because that’s where we’re still at as a country. It’s pretty standard for some people who are casual racists, and some people are overt like it was last night. That’s still where we’re at,” he said.

“People don’t like strong Indigenous voices like Latrell. They’d rather he stay quiet and in his box and don’t express it in that way, and that’s how it comes out. That’s unacceptable. It’s really disappointing.

“Taking off the colours that you wear and all of that, it’s just not on.

“We had big rivalries with him last year, and he’s won grand finals in this jersey as well, but take out all of that and take out the jerseys that people wear – people don’t like someone like him having a really strong voice and him voicing it in different ways.

“He’s got his way of expressing himself, and that’s cool, but we’re still not at a point where we’re happy to accept really strong Indigenous voices in this country.”

Trent Robinson and Mitchell spent a number of years working together, which is why the coach is confident the star fullback won’t be lost to the game. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

There are fears the constant abuse Mitchell gets on field and on social media could eventually drive him away from rugby league, but Robinson – who coached him to two titles at the Roosters – disagrees.

“He’s too strong for that. He’ll get stronger and stronger from this,” he said.

“This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen it with Latrell. He understands that’s a part of his life, so as far as I understand – I haven’t talked with him about it for a few years – but he understands that. He’ll use it in his way and the right way.”

The NRL integrity unit is already investigating the incident and will work with players and stadium officials to identify the culprit.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo didn’t want to pre-empt what the penalties would be, but life bans are on the cards, while educating the offender has also been spoken about.

Andrew Abdo praised Mitchell for speaking out and says the NRL integrity unit is already investigating the matter. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

“I want to commend Latrell Mitchell for his leadership for calling out this action,” Abdo said.

“But not just Latrell. All of the players last night from both teams who worked together to assist the stadium, the NRL officials, police and everyone for getting all the facts and making sure these types of situations don’t happen in the future.

“It takes a lot of courage, and again, I want to commend Latrell and all the players who speak up and take action. I want to encourage everyone in our game to do the same thing. It’s the only way that we can eradicate these types of unfortunate incidents from our game.

“When issues like this happen, just know that we will deal with them and we’ll deal with them thoroughly.”