‘Can't let him land first': Host lifts lid on explosive Latrell exchange

News.com.au

3 days ago

Braith Anasta has revealed more details surrounding his fiery dust-up with Latrell Mitchell outside a Sydney restaurant in 2024.
The 43-year-old was asked about the exchange on Thursday's Off the Record podcast with The Australian's Andrew Webster and The Daily Telegraph's Buzz Rothfield.
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The incident unfolded in Surry Hills while both parties were separately out for dinner at restaurant Chin Chin in May last year.
Mitchell had reportedly taken issue with perceived personal attacks by Anasta and approached him inside the restaurant before asking him to step outside.
While the exchange never turned physical, Anasta said to he had fears it could have turned nasty.
'I was thinking in my head, I can't let him land the first one because I'll be gone, because he's a beast,' Anasta said on the Off The Record podcast.
'I'd be lying if I said at some point, I didn't think it might happen. I can understand what he was going through and I can understand how frustrating it is when people have an opinion and you just want to play footy.
'He could have easily called me. He could have easily (talked to me) and I would have spoken to him about it.'
The incident quickly found its way online with Anasta left disappointed with how Mitchell's camp leaked the story.
'That was another DW (Danny Weidler) stitch up,' he said.
Buzz added: 'He (Latrell) leaked his version of it.' Anasta replied: 'Very quickly mind you.'
The NRL 360 host then went into further detail on how the whole night played out but clarified he and Latrell are now on good terms.
'Okay, let me get something clear here – before I tell it, me and Latrell are fine,' he said.
'It's not about putting sh*t on him. I don't want that. But what actually happened was, I finished NRL360 and … by Wednesday night, I just want to have a beer, and have something to eat and just relax.
'So, I've gone to Chin Chin's to meet someone there. I hadn't even ordered. I had my back to the restaurant. So I couldn't see anything other than who I was having dinner with.
'Anyway, I hadn't even ordered a drink and I get this tap on my shoulder. I look over my shoulder and it's Latrell. I coached Latrell in the (under) 20s, always had a good relationship with him, and I didn't think anything of it.
'He goes, 'no, no, no, no. I'm sick of you having a crack at me on 360, yada, yada, yada'. I'm thinking, is he joking here, or is he serious?
'And he goes, let's go outside. By that point, people are looking at us, right? It's the middle of Chin Chin's. It's a busy night. I thought, I need to de-escalate this, or at the very least, I need to get this out of this restaurant, right?
'We go out the front and he just lays, he lays into me, right? He's standing over the top of me and he's having his whack.
'I'm like, mate, okay, slow down. Because there was nothing making sense. It was just abuse. I said, 'mate, what am I doing that isn't right? Is there something that I'm wrong with? Can you just explain to me what you're angry with?'
'They were coming last at the time. I don't know if it was a week or two before, but I'd shown some vision of him at fullback.
'I watch every game of every player … and there were just a few instances where I thought he could be better.
'In that instant, he was over the top of me. I didn't back down at all. I gave as good as I got.'
The criticism from Anasta came as the Rabbitohs slumped to to last place on the ladder at the end of round 9, 2024.
At the time Anasta and fellow NRL 360 panel members raised questions about Mitchell's place in the team and whether the club should shift him away from the fullback position.
Anasta had pointed out that the then 26-year-old Mitchell struggles with defensive positioning as a fullback.
'You look at the great fullbacks in our game and they're there before the play is there. They pre-empt it, they are moving before the ball goes, they are on the bike,' Anasta said.
'He gets caught out a lot in defence, he's very rarely in the frame at the last second when there's a try or when he's got an opportunity to save a try.
'That's where he needs to improve on. That comes down to fitness too Gordie (Gordon Tallis) and comes down to being one of those high energy fullbacks. He plays differently.'
Mitchell has turned his form around in 2025 with the fullback staring for the Rabbitohs as well as producing jaw-dropping feats for the NSW Blues in the State of Origin opener.
Fair to say there won't be any restaurant confrontations coming if he keeps his stellar play up.