NRL ScoreCentre: Latrell Mitchell allegedly racially abused by fan as Penrith Panthers face South Sydney Rabbitohs

A fan has been ejected from Penrith’s match against South Sydney after allegedly racially abusing Rabbitohs star Latrell Mitchell.

The incident was alleged to have occurred as Mitchell left the field at half-time.

Police are currently reviewing footage, and the NRL is investigating the incident.

Mitchell has taken a stand against racism in the past and reported racial abuse from online trolls to the police and the NRL integrity unit in 2021.

The Panthers claimed their first win of the season, holding on in a frenetic finish to beat the Rabbitohs 16-10.

The scoreline did not do justice to a contest dominated by the Panthers, but which was almost snatched by the Rabbitohs and their chief architect Mitchell.

After coming off second-best in a tackle with Alex Johnston, Cleary opted not to kick for goal when an Izack Tago try extended the Panthers’ lead to 8-0 before the break. He managed to play the game out, albeit with ankle strapping and a limp.

The ankle complaint came at the end of a dominant 40 minutes for the Panthers, who could have been up by more than 10-0 at half-time had recruit Luke Garner not been denied two tries and Isaah Yeo one.

Cleary terrorised the back three with his high kicks, especially inexperienced winger Izaac Thompson, and got the result he was after in the third minute.

The ball bounced in the red zone and travelled through hands to Stephen Crichton to score on the Panthers’ right edge.

The Rabbitohs did well to rebuff the Penrith juggernaut as it rolled forward and looked set to go into the break trailing by only four points.

That was until Jarome Luai broke free down the left side and managed to kick for the speedy Tago even as he was tackled.

South Sydney were slow to come out of half-time and, having been battered through the middle the whole first half, appeared too tired to mount a comeback when Panthers winger Brian To’o sailed over on the right side in the 52nd minute.

However Mitchell’s ball-playing down the left gave the Rabbitohs a sniff, pulling the scoreline back to 16-10 with a try by Isaiah Tass in the final two minutes.

But Souths had left their run too late as Penrith held on for a vital win.

ABC/AAP

FixturesLadder