‘Huge blow’: Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell handed monster ban for dangerous tackle

Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell looks set to miss the entire finals series after Friday’s dangerous tackle on ex-teammate Joey Manu.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 27: Latrell Mitchell of the Rabbitohs reacts after being sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Joseph Manu of the Roosters during the round 24 NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium on August 27, 2021, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Latrell Mitchell’s season is effectively over.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs fullback is facing a suspension of between six and nine matches following Friday evening’s high tackle on Sydney Roosters centre Joey Manu.

In the 57th minute of the one-sided encounter at Suncorp Stadium, Mitchell was sin-binned and put on report for a dangerous tackle that sent his former teammate to hospital.

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“This has ramifications. Oh my goodness,” Fox League commentator Dan Ginnane said at the time.

“Now Latrell Mitchell has been charged three times this year. He gets no benefits when it comes to discounts.”

Penrith Panthers great Greg Alexander elaborated: “That does look bad. That looks like a cheekbone injury. That was awfully swollen. I know his eye puffed up but underneath the eye is swollen as well.”

On Saturday morning, Mitchell was charged with a grade two reckless tackle on Manu and faces a six-match ban if he enters an early guilty plea. However, he risks a nine-match suspension if he unsuccessfully fights the charge at the judiciary.

Speaking to 2GB’s The Continuous Call Team on Saturday afternoon, NRL Head of Football Graham Annesley confirmed that referee Henry Perenara had been axed from the bunker for the Round 24 clash between the Melbourne Storm and Parramatta Eels.

Annesley also declared that Mitchell should have been sent off following the dangerous tackle.

Latrell Mitchell facing between six and nine weeks out after being charged with a grade two, reckless high tackle. Huge blow for @SSFCRABBITOHS

— Adrian Proszenko (@proshenks) August 28, 2021

BREAKING: Latrell Mitchell Grade 2 reckless
SIX weeks early plea
NINE weeks if he fights it and loses

— BUZZ ROTHFIELD (@BuzzRothfield) August 28, 2021

Mitchell already has a history at the NRL judiciary this year. In April, he was suspended for four weeks on a grade two dangerous contact charge against the Wests Tigers.

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett was adamant his side could still win the premiership without their star fullback.

“He is a huge player for us. We didn’t have him last year in the play-offs and we are a better team than we were last year,” he told reporters on Friday.

“We are pretty good at getting other players to play well for us and put them in key positions and that is what we are going to have to find if that (suspension) happens.

“We have won a lot of games this year with a lot of players missing. Latrell missed a month of football earlier in the season, and one after the Origin. Our greatest strength this year has been the squad and I will have to rely on the squad to get the job done.

“I am confident there is enough good players to make it happen for us. It just makes it a little bit harder for us.”

The rugby league community reacted with fury at Mitchell’s “boneheaded” move, which left Manu with a suspected fractured cheekbone.

The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield tweeted: “The NRL cannot allow Latrell Mitchell to play again this year. It was both reckless and deliberate. Can’t believe he got only 10 minutes. It’s a disgrace.

“The person in the bunker and the referee need to be stood down for as long as Latrell is suspended. Steve Chiddy, who missed the Kaufusi hit on Matterson, was stood down for a month. The same should happen.”

Joey Manu suffered a suspected fractured cheekbone. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The Australian’s Brent Read posted: “Can’t buy into the argument that if you played the game, you will understand things can go wrong. Fact is if it goes wrong, you get suspended. You don’t need to play the game to understand that. Go hard, go soft. It doesn’t matter. Get it wrong and you pay the price.”

Fox League commentator Warren Smith tweeted: “I think it’s fair to say, had the bunker and the referee got the Mitchell high tackle punishment correct, none of the c**p that’s happened since would have occurred. None of the officials from this game should be involved in the finals.

“Remember, it was only a few weeks ago that the Mitchell tackle on Manu would have been an automatic send-off. The crackdown was a four week farce, and what has happened since proves it.

“The game has been turned inside-out over the past 12 months with so many rule changes and interpretation twists that the fans don’t know what’s happening and neither do in-game officials.

“We’ve gone from the bunker not knowing how to react sufficiently to foul play, to the NRL’s massive over-reaction for four weeks until they couldn’t stand the criticism anymore, and now back to wherever the hell we are now. The officials are lost, and so is the game.”

AAP reporter Scott Bailey posted: “South Sydney’s season copped a far bigger hit tonight than the Roosters’. At best, Latrell won’t play again this season until the grand final. Absolute madness.”

My view of Mitchell tackle is as he runs in,he has no idea where his point of contact will be..It's just to hit as hard as possible.And that intention is, without apology, part of the game.But he got him in the head, & that will likely incur a 6 wk ban. Should have been sent off.

— Andrew Voss (@AndrewVossy) August 27, 2021

If Souths are without Latrell for 4 weeks, which they should be, that might be the Rabbitohs' premiership chances gone. His gravity is so influential in so many of their attacking moves. It's like Steph Curry; even when he doesn't have the ball, defenders still havr to watch him

— Jon Healy (@JonHealy) August 27, 2021

Latrell Mitchell is my favourite player, but there's no reason for such boneheaded behaviour. All Souths needed from tonight was no injuries or suspensions, and instead their best player's season might be over #NRLRoostersSouths

— Matt Bungard (@TheMattBungard) August 27, 2021

In a bad-tempered post-match press conference, Roosters coach Trent Robinson said the performance of the match officials was “laughable”.

“It took Joey to stand up and stick up for himself with a depressed fracture of the cheekbone and they still didn’t want to do anything about it. Henry Perenara in the bunker didn’t stop play. Ashley (Klein) asked them to play on and then the players went at it again. Then they missed it again,” Robinson fumed.

“Perenara is up in the box doesn’t do a thing about it for 30, 40, 50 seconds. It is a common theme this year about the NRL and bunker not looking after our players. The guy is off in hospital and they send him for ten in the bin, ten in the bin. It was laughable. A guy will finish the year for a late shot on the head.”

He said the referees “didn’t know what they were doing”.

“How do you send that for ten in the bin? A guy will finish the year based on a late shot to the head, and it’s ten minutes in the bin? You cannot make decisions, if that’s your decision,” Robinson said.

“Get out of there. If you can’t do it, get out of there. Or just get rid of it (the bunker) completely. Get rid of it completely. If you cannot do the job, get out of there. It’s shown that the NRL bunker cannot do their job this year. It’s been a farce, an absolute farce.”

The Rabbitohs secured a crushing 54-12 victory over the Roosters on Friday, their 19th win of the 2021 premiership.

No NRL team has ever conceded 50 points in a match and won a premiership.

– with Joel Gould, NCA NewsWire

Originally published as ‘Huge blow’: Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell handed monster ban for dangerous tackle