Father of 15-year-old boy behind Latrell Mitchell racism speaks to police

More details are beginning to emerge about the culprit behind a despicable act of racism aimed at Latrell Mitchell on Thursday night.

NRL Stars in Court. Star duo Latrell Mitchell and Jack Wighton appeared at court a week before the NRL season kicks off after being arrested and charged over an incident outside a Canberra nightclub. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

More details are beginning to emerge after NRL superstar Latrell Mitchell was targeted in a despicable act of racism in Penrith on Thursday night.

The culprit, who yelled out ‘black dog’ at Mitchell, has been identified as a 15-year-old boy who was wearing a Sydney Roosters jersey.

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The boy fled the scene from his position near the tunnel at BlueBet Stadium after Rabbitohs players called upon security to intervene in the matter at halftime of the match.

However according to The Daily Telegraph, the boy’s father, who was sitting in a different area, reportedly stayed behind to talk to police about the incident.

The paper reports the boy’s father said his son “shouldn’t have said what he said”.

The NRL integrity unit is already investigating the incident and is working with players and stadium officials.

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.

Latrell Mitchell called out the disgusting abuse. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The incident occurred as Latrell walked off at halftime. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/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.”

Police have also launched an investigation into the matter, with a spokesman telling News Corp: “Detectives attached to Nepean Police Area Command are working with the NSW Police Youth Command and the NRL’s Integrity Unit following a reported incident during a match at Penrith.”

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo won’t rule out a lifetime ban. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

The disgusting incident has sparked fears Mitchell may consider stepping away from rugby league, similarly to how Adam Goodes quit the AFL in 2015 following relentless taunts.

However Roosters coach Trent Robinson, Latrell’s former mentor, insisted that would not be the case, saying that the 25-year-old is simply “too strong for that”.

He’ll get stronger and stronger from this,” Robinson 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.”

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

Former NRL player George Rose, currently one of Mitchell’s closest friends and advisors, agreed with that sentiment, telling News Corp Mitchell has too much support to give it away.

“There are a lot of people who will fight with him,” Rose said.

“There’s a lot of people who will stand up with him, and it’s been from the start.

“What happened with Adam Goodes in the past, I don’t believe the same support was there, as there is now for Latrell.

“A club like South Sydney, they won’t stand for this. They made it clear they don’t stand for it, JD (coach Jason Demetriou) was very strong in his post-match interview.”

Robinson has thrown his support behind Latrell. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, 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.”

- with NCA Newswire