Wayne Bennett has vowed to help Latrell Mitchell get back on his feet when he returns as South Sydney coach in 2025, but just a few months ago he made a very telling comment that one of the two “may have to leave” the club if they cannot work together. Mitchell faces a game suspension and a fine from the NRL after a photo emerged showing him bent over a table that appeared to contain a white powder.
There is no indication that Mitchell did anything illegal, but the NRL has served him with a warning for “defamation of the game”. South Sydney are also expected to punish the star fullback and he will meet with the board this week after responding to the warning.
The board is reportedly demand that Mitchell agree to new conduct clauses in opposition to prevent him from stepping out of line again. Mitchell will not play in 2024 and will have to serve his suspension at the start of next season – a major blow for new coach Bennett.
In a speech last week, Bennett promised to support Mitchell and work to get him back to his best in 2025, but that came after he made a very insightful comment in MayAfter agreeing to return to the Rabbitohs on a three-year deal, the head coach told the media: “If there’s a problem at the end, one of us will have to go.”
Bennett qualified his comment by adding: “But I don’t expect any problems. I’m not going back to Souths because I don’t like someone. I know the people there.”
Wayne Bennett will not let Latrell Mitchell get away so easily
However, this seemingly inconsequential comment paints a grim picture for Mitchell and shows that Bennett will not accept anything less than the highest standard, something he said last week when he again spoke about Mitchell.
“Most businesses in Australia would fail if they were under the same scrutiny as we are. We are under enormous scrutiny,” Bennett said. “That doesn’t give us any reason to do the wrong thing. The reality is that if you decide to coach in the NRL, if you decide to play in the NRL or be an official in the NRL, you are governed by different rules to everyone else in society.”
“If you can’t handle it, don’t do the job. Go and become part of society, otherwise you will be watched and you will have to learn to live with it and change your behavior. It’s that simple.”
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Should Latrell Mitchell consider a change of NRL team?
Bennett recruited Mitchell to Souths in 2020 when he was first a coach at the Rabbitohs and is the driving force behind his move from centre to fullback. The position switch hasn’t really worked out, with many feeling Mitchell doesn’t do enough work to be a top-line fullback.
There is hope that Bennett’s return to Souths will get him back to his best but, according to leading journalist Phil Rothfield, a change of club might even be better. “He’s not coping with being in the spotlight so regularly as the superstar of the game in the NRL,” Rothfield told Sky Sports radio on Monday.
“I started thinking about this new franchise, the Western Bears in Perth, and I don’t know if he wants to uproot his family, he loves Taree, he loves Souths. But I think more he should join a club to get away from the media. He could walk down the main street of Perth and most people wouldn’t know who he is. He could just live a more relaxed (life)… I don’t know.”
