‘Why do it?’: Latrell Mitchell on report twice in first half brain explosions
Latrell Mitchell has been put on report twice in an absurd first half against the Warriors, leaving commentators absolutely stunned.
Latrell Mitchell has been slammed after landing himself on report twice in a pair of brain fades in the first half against the Warriors.
It was the last thing the Rabbitohs needed after claiming their first win of the season last week, seemingly returning to the form that has seen them lose four of their first five in a 34-4 drubbing against the Warriors.
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The Warriors lead 18-4 at the halftime break but only after Mitchell’s indiscretions, before running away with the second half.
It was an arm-wrestle early with the Warriors holding a slender 6-4 lead after both sides scored in the opening 10 minutes.
But as the Warriors attacked the Souths line with a kick 19 minutes into the first half, Mitchell picked up the ball but was stopped by Jazz Tevaga around the boot laces.
As Johnson, who kicked the ball, came in to help complete the tackle, Mitchell appeared to lash out with an elbow to fend the Warriors half off, collecting him in the head.
While Johnson appealed to the referee, two plays later the game was stopped by referee Liam Cameron, with Mitchell placed on report.
Despite protestations from Mitchell, Greg Alexander said he was lucky to be able to stay on the field.
As the pair went to ground, Mitchell put his hand behind Johnson’s head, with Matt Russell arguing that it appeared the Souths fullback “was trying to apologise on the way down”.
“The worst thing is that he threw the elbow out, he didn’t just cop the elbow,” Steve Roach said.
Alexander said it was more of “a swinging elbow”.
“It’s a little more than a forearm,” Alexander said. “Latrell’s lucky, he could be sitting in the bin for 10 minutes.”
Just over 10 minutes later, Mitchell was put on report again after a lifting tackle on Tohu Harris.
The officials have been all over any lifting tackles in 2024 and while there was no momentum in the tackle, Harris was clearly lifted over the horizontal.
“That was silly,” Alexander said. “The tackle was done, but he got up-ended.
“Was it Latrell? Why do it? Why would you do that? If you’ve just had them on the rack, you make the tackle, Cody Walker comes in, Latrell gets his arms under him, and tips him up.
“It’s just an easy out for the Warriors with the penalties. I really don’t know what goes through his head sometimes on the field.”
At the halftime break, Alexander was still trying to comprehend what was going through Mitchell’s mind as the incidents were far from necessary.
“I really don’t know what goes through Latrell’s mind through a game on occasions,” Alexander said.
“Threw an elbow out at Shaun Johnson. It was blatant.
“To throw an elbow out like that at a defender at head height, very lucky to be on the field.
“And then at the back end of the half when Souths had the Warriors under a little bit of pressure, he was put on report again for a lifting tackle.
“Latrell, he knows not to put his hand between a player’s legs and lift. That’s the no-no, don’t do that. Latrell just gave the Warriors an easy passage out of their own end. After that they scored two tries.
“I don’t know what goes through Latrell’s head at times.”
On ABC Sport, former NRL star Dene Halatau said: “Bit of a brain fade moment from Latrell. I’m not sure what he was trying to affect there in terms of tackling. It could only really go one way.”
WWOS’ The Mole posted: “Imagine if Radley threw that Latrell elbow!”
Sports reporter John Dean wrote: “Latrell needs to pull his head in. On report twice in one half of footy for dumb acts.”
Freelancer Curtis Woodward said: “What is Latrell thinking today? With everything else happening around this side. Head not screwed on at all. Coach SHOULD call him out in front of the team at halftime.”
Another fan commented: “I’ve been a Latrell defender in the past, but that was a dreadful half of football.
“Gave away 2 dumb penalties, and looked COMPLETELY DISINTERESTED in attack.
“Those are the reasons people get stuck into him, not race.”
Mitchell had a rough game at the back, running for just 86m in 14 runs, although he did contribute two line break assists.
However, he wasn’t the only one not pulling their weight as only Keaon Koloamatangi and Tevita Tatola in the Rabbitohs forward pack ran for over 100m.
After halftime, it was all one way traffic as the Warriors piled on three unanswered tries to run away with a dominant victory.
The result makes it the third most amount of points conceded over five rounds in South Sydney history, which goes back to 1908, an average of 32.4.
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