'Laughing stock': Latrell Mitchell finds support from NRL great after Magic Round ban

Yahoo

29-04-2025

Former NRL star Mat Rogers has let rip at the suspension handed to Latrell Mitchell for hit late tackle on Sua Fa'alogo with the South Sydney Rabbitohs fullback ruled out of Magic Round. Mitchell's first game at fullback in the 2025 season ended in disaster after the 27-year-old was sent from the field for a late tackle on the Storm winger.
Fa'alogo had made a break in play and was honing in on the Rabbitohs line when he drew Mitchell in and passed the ball to his left. Just before the pass, Fa'alogo appeared to lose balance and lowered his body closer to the ground.
Mitchell committed to the tackle, having planted his feet, and hit Fa'alogo high and late. Mitchell was sent for 10 minutes in the bin and Fa'alogo unfortunately did not return due to concussion.
And the tackle has divided fans. Many felt Mitchell had already committed to the tackle and Fa'alogo's body height made the tackle appear more dangerous than it appeared. However, after the NRL has enforced harsher penalties for head-high tackles across the last two rounds, most couldn't argue with Mitchell's trip to the sideline.
And the match review committee handed the Rabbitohs fullback a one game suspension, which rules him out of his Magic Round clash. While NRL boss Andrew Abdo has come out and defended the code's stance on high-tackles, former player Rogers can not believe Mitchell won't feature in Magic Round.
Rogers was left flabbergasted Mitchell won't be taking part in one of the NRL's most important rounds this week and suggested the suspensions being handed out to players has gone too far. Speaking on SEN Radio, Rogers claimed Mitchell should have escaped a suspension because Fa'alogo slipped into the tackle, which made it look a lot worse than it was.
"You don't wan't Magic Round to be un-magic," Rogers said. "Nope, he should't even be suspended. Latrell Mitchell is standing his ground...and Sua Fa'alogo slips and slips down to his shoulder. That is not a penalty, it's not a sin-bin and it certainly isn't a suspension. The fact Latrell Mitchell is going to miss Magic Round because if that is unbelievable," Rogers said.
"I hope the NRL listen to Craig Bellamy and Cameron Munster and listen to the cry out from the fans because you are making a laughing stock of a game that has incidental contact with the head at times. It doesn't always have to be a sin-bin. It doesn't always have to be a penalty."
Surprisingly, both Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy and star playmaker Cameron Munster defended Mitchell over the incident believing it was an accident because the game moves so quickly. 'It's slippery out there, it's wet, there'a a lot of speed, Sua's very quick, Latrell's very big. I don't know where you want Latrell to go there," Munster said post-game.
'Sua's obviously trying to engage him before the pass and he's slipped over. I feel like sometimes it's hard to get out of those positions when you're fully committed to the contact. There wasn't a heap of malice by the look of it. I know where the game is trying to go by protecting players but as long as we keep it consistent around the game I don't have a problem with it."
Reporter Paul Crawley also claimed South Sydney were fuming a high-profile rival player didn't cop a suspension for accidental head-high contact when Mitchell did. Isaah Yeo hit falling Manly fullback Tom Trbojevic in the nose with his forearm during their Saturday night clash.
And Yeo escaped a trip to the bin and a suspension, despite leaving Trbojevic bloodied. Veteran league journalist Crawley reported that Souths officials were "privately questioning" why Yeo wasn't sanctioned in a similar way to Mitchell. "I understand there was a lot of focus on Latrell's tackle because it looked so spectacular," Crawley wrote for Fox League.
"But watch that in real speed and it's the definition of a rugby league accident. And the wet conditions contributed to this given Fa'alogo clearly slipped in the tackle and was less than a metre off the ground at the moment of impact. Yet Yeo gets off with penalty sufficient. Talk about double standards."