Latrell Mitchell’s telling statement says it all after slur scandal
Latrell Mitchell has broken his silence after being the victim of an alleged racial slur. The NRL star made his biggest statement on the field.
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Latrell Mitchell has spoken for the first time after he was allegedly racially vilified during the Rabbitohs’ loss to Penrith.
The South Sydney superstar returned to the spot light on Monday at a club training session and made a bold statement without even fronting the cameras.
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Mitchell has now told The Daily Telegraph exactly why he took such decisive action in calling out the alleged abuse.
The 25-year-old’s brave move to confront the situation head on was widely praised by his teammates on Monday — the same day the scandal took another twist.
Reports on Monday suggested the teenager at the centre of the saga claims his comment was not racially motivated. He is reported to have called Mitchell a “black dog” at halftime of Thursday night’s clash at BlueBet Stadium against the Panthers.
The boy, identified as wearing a Sydney Roosters jersey over a hoodie, hid and fled the scene on foot after Rabbitohs players called on stadium security to intervene after Mitchell reacted to the alleged slur.
Mitchell now says he reacted how he did because he does not want anyone else experiencing what he has suffered his entire career.
“It is important for me to call this abuse out immediately,” Mitchell told the Telegraph.
“Not only for myself, but every Indigenous person who has suffered or suffers this sort of abuse. We have a number of Indigenous players in our squad — who will have all been as equally offended by the comment.
“The only way to stop this abuse continuing is for people to call it out immediately — just as the Panthers players and my teammates did on Thursday night”.
His public display of wearing white socks with an Aboriginal flag during Monday’s training session says it all about the powerful stance he is taking while NSW Police continues an investigation into the incident.
Mitchell returned home to Taree for a couple of days after the incident and was then in the crowd to cheer on Aussie boxer Tim Tszyu during his blockbuster fight at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon.
He was on light duties at South Sydney training on Monday morning and kicked goals, with some young kids collecting the balls, while he also took photos with fans who adore him.
Concerns have been raised that Mitchell consistently being on the receiving end of racial abuse in the league will lead to the star fullback’s premature departure from the sport.
His teammates on Monday praised the fullback for the way he has continued to hold such a high profile position in the sport in the face of regular abuse.
Rabbitohs players are encouraging Mitchell to continue speaking his mind after he was the victim of alleged racial abuse during last week’s loss to Penrith.Mitchell is arguably the biggest star in rugby league right now with everything he says or does usually enough to garner attention from the media or at least on social channels.
But instead of celebrating what he’s been able to achieve on the field as well as his positive impact in the Indigenous community, Mitchell was abused on Thursday night in an incident that has rocked the game.His coach and teammates spoke passionately after the game on the issue, while opposition players have voiced their support for the representative star.
“He’s doing well. I think he’s just happy with the way that everyone’s got around him,” winger Alex Johnston told the NCA NewsWire.
“The NRL, South Sydney and all the boys from other clubs have all done a great job of showing their support and having that hard stance.
“There shouldn’t be any room for that in our game and in society as well. It starts with Trell, but there are lots of kids out there who are experiencing it.
“Trell is in a good head space getting out with the young kids at training, and it goes to show that he’s a great fella and he knows what he’s doing.
“He wears his heart on his sleeve. When things come to his head, he just says it, but it’s never negative. He’s a great bloke and he does a lot of good actions that nobody notices or mentions.
“Hopefully, a few of those come to light because he’s such a good bloke.”
Veteran forward Tom Burgess said Mitchell had addressed what happened on Thursday during Monday’s session and encouraged his teammate to keep being himself because his actions were positively influencing people who looked up to him.
“I think he’s in a really good place,” Burgess said.
“He called it out, but he’s not just doing it for himself. He’s doing it for his entire community and everyone he represents.
“He spoke to us today about how he’s received messages from people 11 hours away in the country who told him that the ripple effect of what he does is massive. He’s got a platform and he uses it really well.”
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo was unequivocal in his response on Friday morning, calling the abuse “completely unacceptable”.
While calling rugby league generally a game of “genuine inclusivity”, Abdo said the “message to those outlying individuals (was) very clear.
“You’re not welcome in our game,” he said.
“You’re going to be called out. You’re going to be called out by players, by fans, by officials and eventually it becomes eradicated.”
Souths coach Jason Demetriou also committed to his call for fans found guilty of racial vilification to be banned for life on Sunday morning, saying there “has to be some kind of consequence toward what happened and some education”.
“At the same time...we’re talking about something we’ve been educating on since I was a kid and I’m 47 years old,” he told Sky Sports’ Big Sports Breakfast.
“What are we educating them on? It’s an easy throwaway line to say we need to educate people, but what are we talking about?
“It’s time for us non-Indigenous people to stand up and say we want to see some action against these types of offences.
“We all walk around saying we’re not racist but it’s there and it’s time to admit that it exists.”
— with Martin Gabor, NCA NewsWire
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