At 11am on Tuesday, Jack Wighton will front the cameras at South Sydney’s Heffron Park training facility in Maroubra to answer tough questions about the predicament in which his team finds itself.
Has coach Jason Demetriou lost the dressing room? Has Latrell Mitchell let down his club?
But perhaps the toughest questions being asked inside Rabbitohs HQ on Tuesday will be those directed at Wighton’s close friend and teammate Latrell Mitchell, who will face senior club figures for heart-to-heart talks.
The meeting will follow a series of events that has left the club concerned about their fullback’s frame of mind and his desire to lead the club back to the top of the NRL.
It has been in the calendar for the past two weeks, but the agenda has taken a significant shift in direction following the three-game ban imposed on Mitchell for an inexcusable brain snap that saw him collect Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson in the head with a stray elbow.
Latrell Mitchell departs the Rabbitohs Centre of Excellence on Monday afternoon.Credit: Wolter Peeters
“The meeting was scheduled well before the match against the Warriors,” chief executive Blake Solly said when contacted by the Herald on Monday afternoon. “Everyone at the club is invested in getting the best from Latrell on the field this season.”
None more so than Demetriou, who will have his own meeting with Mitchell to relay a simple message: he needs to be better.
Demetriou has previously been criticised for not holding Mitchell to account and giving the NSW and Australian representative special treatment – an accusation that contributed to club legend Sam Burgess walking out on the club before their final game of the season last year.
Demetriou, though, knows South Sydney cannot afford to have Mitchell suspended for extended periods at a time when they are fighting to save their season.
Latrell Mitchell of the Rabbitohs reacts following the round five NRL match between South Sydney Rabbitohs and New Zealand Warriors at Accor Stadium.Credit: Getty
It’s expected he will raise those concerns with Mitchell when the pair sit down on Tuesday, with the coach fighting to save his career.
Mitchell will also meet with Solly, who will reflect the concerns of a South Sydney board that is growing tired of the soap opera that follows the 26-year-old.
South Sydney officials have long defended Mitchell against attacks from the public and media, but even they have run out of patience with their star player after his on-field behaviour and performance against the Warriors.
While the club is supportive of Mitchell’s off-field work, in particular on Indigenous issues, they don’t want it to come at the expense of the club, which has invested heavily in him both financially and strategically.
Mitchell escaped charges for this tackle on Tohu Harris.
Mitchell will now have time to reflect on his position at the club and in the game as he serves his time on the sidelines. Mitchell will be told he has let his team and club down and will need to earn back their trust through his actions.
South Sydney couldn’t have been happier with Mitchell’s application over the off-season, when he trimmed down to his lowest playing weight since joining the club, and were convinced he was set for a strong season.
Unfortunately for South Sydney, Mitchell has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons since the Bunnies launched their 2024 campaign in Las Vegas just over a month ago.
Mitchell’s call for Roosters prop Spencer Leniu to be handed a long ban for calling Brisbane five-eighth Ezra Mam a “monkey”, before the matter had been heard at the judiciary, divided figures in the game and culminated in an ugly social media exchange with Anthony Mundine.
That was followed by an expletive-laden interview with Triple M following South Sydney’s loss to Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium in round two. A thumping defeat to the Roosters the following week, plus a grade-one dangerous contact charge for a hit that concussed his close friend Josh Addo-Carr on Good Friday, has kept Mitchell on the back pages.
When he returns to the field, it may be with a different number on his back with a switch back to the centres mooted – and maybe, with a different coach at the helm.
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