‘They are dirty with themselves’: Latrell Mitchell, Jack Wighton apologise
NRL stars Latrell Mitchell and Jack Wighton have released a statement as further details of their alleged brawl come to light.
Latrell Mitchell needed to see a South Sydney team doctor on Sunday night following his arrest in Canberra.
The Rabbitohs star and Dally M medal winner Jack Wighton were allegedly fighting outside a nightclub in Canberra at 3.45am on Sunday morning.
An ugly video of the alleged incident emerged on Sunday with Mitchell heard screaming in pain as he was arrested and taken into custody by police.
The pair are now the subject of an NRL integrity unit investigation.
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The Daily Telegraph first reported the close friends had been out celebrating Wighton’s 30th birthday when they are alleged to have engaged in a fight described by witnesses as a “friendly wrestle” outside a nightclub.
Both players were kept in police cells overnight.
New details emerged on Monday morning as the pair released a statement to make a public apology for their behaviour. They flew out from Sydney to New Zealand on Monday morning ahead of the Indigenous All Stars’ clash with the NZ Maori All-Stars in Rotorua on Saturday.
The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield on Monday said the pair were “dirty at themselves” for how they behaved.
The veteran reporter said the pair will likely be “showing remorse” when they front the ACT Magistrates Court. They will appear before the court on February 22, just days before the NRL season launches on March 2.
The pair released a statement on Monday through No Limit Boxing — Mitchell’s management company.
“For legal reasons we cannot comment on the charges that are before the Court at the moment,” the statement read.
“However we wanted to express remorse for putting ourselves in the position to embarrass our Clubs and the NRL over the weekend.
“We were there to celebrate Jack’s 30th with family and friends. While everyone enjoyed a great night, we understand that our wrestle, as harmless as we believed it to be, was a poor decision and may have looked bad.
“We are sorry for this, and know that we need to be better when in public.
“We remain great friends, and are looking forward to proudly representing our community at All Stars this weekend.”
Wighton was charged with fighting in a public place and failing to comply with an exclusion direction. Mitchell was charged with fighting in a public place, affray and resisting arrest.
Dramatic footage of the incident was released by Seven on Sunday with footage from a witness showing the moment Mitchell was arrested.
The South Sydney star was seen lying face down on the ground and surrounded by four police officers.
The Channel 7 video shows Mitchell screaming “my shoulders!” multiple times, appearing to be in serious pain.
As he complains about his treatment a woman is heard yelling “you’re literally hurting him, they weren’t doing anything”.
News Corp reported Mitchell sought medical assistance after the incident and will need to pass a fitness test to play in the upcoming All Stars match.
Rothfield said the incident could have been much worse for Mitchell — and his football club.
“I have spoken to Souths and (Mitchell’s manager) Matt Rose about this and whether there will be some sort of complaint lodged with the ACT Police or when the two boys go to court in a fortnight’s time,” Rothfield told Sky Sports Radio.
“They both told me that Jack and Latrell will more likely be showing remorse when they turn up in court.
“They understand they’ve brought untimely and embarrassing headlines to rugby league on the eve of the season, and they are dirty on themselves for putting themselves in that position.
“That’s not to say, and there were so many eyewitnesses I saw on the Channel 7 report last night, including the manager of the hotel, who were critical of the way police handled it.
“I can tell you — this could have been so much worse, there’s about four police who have Latrell on the ground, he is yelling out ‘my shoulder, my shoulder’.
“Well that was while they were trying to handcuff him, it was so serious South Sydney’s club doctor had to visit Latrell at his home last night just to check it was okay.
“He thinks it is, they are pretty confident it isn’t going to stop him from playing for the All Stars this weekend if he does make the trip to New Zealand.
“They are convinced it won’t stop him from playing Round 1 of the competition, however physios will be monitoring it and if it does get worse, he’ll have to get scans.”
Rothfield said the high-profile players should not be playing up so close to the start of their seasons.
“I guess you have to wonder why million-dollar football players should be in nightclubs at 3am in February when they are so deep into their pre-season,” Rothfield said.
“That’s not to say police haven’t overreacted here with the arrest, but I just don’t think they should have put themselves in that position with so much drama, the face of the game Latrell being seen in graphic CCTV footage after fighting his great mate Jack Wighton.
“These two are as close as any two footballers in the NRL, especially ones from rival clubs.
“To give you an idea of how close their relationship is, Latrell was concerned about going on the Kangaroo tour, the World Cup tour of England, he does get homesick, he loves his farm at Taree.
“It was only that Jack Wighton was going and he basically had one of his brothers you could say in the side that convinced him to go to England.
“Matt Rose explained it to me yesterday, there’s a little bit of rivalry between them, they both think they are stronger than each other.
“Whenever they get together and have a few beers they will have a wrestle to prove it, this time they’ve had too much to drink, it got a little bit out of hand.
“But the eyewitnesses I have spoken to have said it was an over-reaction by the police, in the circumstances of the arrest particularly.
“But the bottom line is, footy players shouldn’t be wrestling in nightclubs, friendly or not.
“That’s the part I am talking about, million-dollar footballers being in nightclubs at that time of the morning and just putting themselves in awkward dangerous positions, where this could have been a lot worse.
“He could have been hurt, how do you prove it was in the police arrest he did hurt his shoulder? How do we know it wasn’t while he was wrestling with Jack?
“I’m not dirty with them having a beer, but they do get an eight-week off-season, that’s the time they party, not this close to the season.”
The pair reportedly returned to Wighton’s home to have breakfast with their partners after being released from police custody at 10am on Sunday.
The NRL has not stood the players down as the integrity unit continues its investigation, an NRL spokesman confirmed.
The Rabbitohs and Raiders earlier released statements addressing the incident.
A South Sydney club statement on Sunday read: “The South Sydney Rabbitohs are aware of an alleged incident involving Latrell Mitchell this morning in Canberra.
“The Rabbitohs have informed the NRL Integrity Unit about the alleged incident.
“The Rabbitohs will be making no further comment at this stage.”
The Raiders said: “The Canberra Raiders have been made aware of an alleged incident involving Jack Wighton last night in Canberra.
“The club has informed the NRL integrity unit and is cooperating with ACT police.
“The Raiders will not be making further comment at this time.”
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