Latrell Mitchell horror show ‘not a good look’ after beer-chugging video

Latrell Mitchell turned in a brutal performance for Souths after downing a beer at a Luke Combs concert last week. Image: Getty/Nine News

A video of Latrell Mitchell ‘shot-gunning’ a beer at a Luke Combs concert last week has come back to haunt him, after a brutal performance in South Sydney’s loss to Newcastle. The Knights took a giant step towards the NRL finals after securing a seventh-straight victory with a 29-10 win over Souths.

Kalyn Ponga produced another masterclass for the Knights, but it was a very different story for his opposite fullback Mitchell. Despite running for over 200 metres and breaking 12 tackles, Mitchell produced two costly errors that led directly to Newcastle tries.

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He fumbled the ball in the in-goal to allow Adam Clune to score in the second half, before another dropped ball while on the attack saw Bradman Best streak away to score under the posts. To cap off the nightmare display, Mitchell was also sin-binned in the dying stages for elbowing Tyson Frizell while the Knights forward was on the ground.

He now faces a nervous wait for Monday morning’s charge sheet from the match review committee. The Rabbitohs have a bye in Round 26, meaning a suspension for Mitchell would severely jeopardise Souths’ chances of qualifying for the finals. As it currently stands, the Rabbitohs will need to beat the Roosters in Round 27 to finish in the top eight.

“It’s just silly from Latrell,” Souths coach Jason Demetriou said afterwards. “He got his medicine, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

Latrell Mitchell was sin-binned for elbowing Tyson Frizell in the Rabbitohs’ loss to Newcastle. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)

As many pointed out, Mitchell’s horror show looks even worse considering he was filmed downing a beer at a concert on Wednesday night. Mitchell was invited on-stage by Combs at the gig in Sydney, and ‘shot-gunned’ a beer alongside the country music singer. While players are entitled to have their private lives, drinking alcohol on a Wednesday night before a weekend game would surely be frowned upon by the coaching staff.

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ABC Sport commentator Zane Bojack tweeted on Sunday: “I love Latrell. But turning in this performance after his concert ‘appearance’ is not a good look.” Another pundit wrote: “Players deserve to have their own lives and they shouldn’t revolve solely around football. But to see what Latrell has dished up today in a must-win game is a deadset embarrassment. Maybe Gus was right, he isn’t built for the pressure.”

Discussing Mitchell’s brain-snap after he elbowed Frizell, Corey Parker said on Fox League: “It certainly wasn’t Latrell’s day and this, as we’ve seen before, was a bit of frustration. Michael Ennis added: “The elbow wasn’t overly brutal, but it was the intent of the elbow. Showed the frustration of Latrell Mitchell who is the key man for South Sydney.

“It shows where South Sydney were at today, limited to 10 points. They struggled to get going and their season is slipping away. Let’s be honest, Latrell Mitchell has a lot of involvements today, but he is certainly nowhere near his best. Ill-discipline creeping in at the back-end, has really hurt the Rabbitohs today.”

A State of Origin and Australian Kangaroos teammate of Mitchell’s, Frizell shrugged off the incident. “I’ve played plenty of footy with and against Latrell. There’s no hard feelings there,” he said.

“I felt it come across my head, I wasn’t too sure what it was but he got me with an elbow. He didn’t get me flush so that was pretty lucky, but no hard feelings.”

Sunday’s loss leaves the Rabbitohs in eighth place on the ladder on 28 points – equal with the Cowboys and Roosters. If the Roosters beat the Tigers in Round 26 and then upset the Rabbitohs one week later, they appear likely to make the finals at the expense of their arch-enemies.

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