SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 16: Latrell Mitchell of the Roosters looks on during the round 14 NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the Canterbury Bulldogs at the Sydney Cricket Ground on June 16, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

League boss Todd Greenberg had to personally intervene with explosive quotes from Roosters star Latrell Mitchell in a wide-ranging interview with NRL.com that was published on Saturday.

As reported by The Daily Telegraph, the quotes were believed to raise racial discrimination around the NSW State of Origin side.

In the original version of the interview, Latrell said: “NSW went real funny on us because we don’t sing the anthem,” in reference to himself, Cody Walker and Josh Addo-Carr.

NSW Rugby League chief executive Dave Trodden immediately reached out to Greenberg and threatened to take legal action.

The quote was quickly removed from the article.

The Roosters were also worried that he broke the club's media protocols by doing the interview without their permission.

Trodden is also reportedly unhappy with Mitchell's comments towards Blues coach Brad Fittler.

“I didn’t get told what I needed to work on,” Latrell said. “He (Freddy) said he was going to ring me and he still hasn’t rang me.”

The Blues asked Fittler not to comment on the story to make the situation worse, a notion Trodden denies.

"This has been addressed previously,” he said.

“We’re particularly disappointed that the interview on the NRL ­website contained a number of really serious inaccuracies with suggestions Freddy had made no attempt to contact Latrell.

“This to my knowledge is totally false. He has made many attempts to contact Latrell and has picked him in our State of Origin squad for ­Thursday and Friday of next week.

“We’re also disappointed the governing body of the game would allow publication of an interview like this one with damaging running commentary about our organisation that is seriously inaccurate.

“We were given no opportunity to respond to the comments or correct the inaccuracies.”

40 COMMENTS

  1. Geez what a soft organisation NSW
    Latrell saying they went a bit funny on us.. I can hear the phone call “he said we were funny I’m gonna sue you”

  2. The more I am hearing and the more I am thinking that Mitchell spells big trouble. A million bucks, I wouldn’t have him at my club for 50k. No wonder the Roosters want shot of him. He might be talented but talent isn’t worth a jot with his highly disruptive attitude. Give me Folau over this bloke every day of the week.

  3. Look I personally don’t like our Australia anthem, the Kiwi’s have got theirs right imo and ours should be more inclusive like theirs is……But Like it or not the current Anthem is the official Australian National Anthem…if you are an Australian you should respect and defend the anthem like you would your country and that means belting it out with pride when it calls for it. Lobby the politicians to change it to make it more inclusive…By openly disrespecting it like they did will only get peoples noses out of joint.

  4. Lets face it, Latrell left school before he was 15, trying to memorize a song is like TwentyOne and his new best buddy toddy123 trying to remember how many premierships Souths and Penrith have won combined since 1972. I’ll give you a clue toddy123. It is one of these numbers
    1……2…… or …….3. Haha…haha..hahaha

  5. This guy and his mates are the first to rabble on about inclusiveness when it suits them. How about you just sing the national anthem and join in with the rest of your team mates inclusively and stop creating division for yourselves? Oh but wait on….division creates special privellige and favours for the minority groups that the silent majority would only dream of having.!

  6. Its time Latrell grew up!..he is 22 going on 17….Dont know too many 22yo’s that are commanding a $1m pa salary!

  7. Well Mitchell hasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Basically he said NSW NRL are obsessed with sk.in co.lor. And that Brad Fittler is a supreme A-Ho.le. No surprise here. LOL.

  8. Is the NRL becoming and extra “G” rated Disney Movie or something.
    “Explosive quotes”, like ” “NSW went real funny on us because we don’t sing the anthem,”
    “I didn’t get told what I needed to work on,” Latrell said. “He (Freddy) said he was going to ring me and he still hasn’t rang me.”
    For starters, don’t turn a major sporting event/s into a form of (albeit silent) protest. If you don’t want to sing the anthem, fine, but publicising that you’re not going to, and doing it as a group (the indigenous players), and telling the media why etc, is trying to turn a sporting event into a form of protest, and guess what, the anthem doesn’t mention me by name, or even my ethnic background, or that of any others. It could/should also be seen as inclusive of all Australia’s because it doesn’t focus on any particular group, or single any out.
    P.S, maybe if you had of focused on your sporting game, instead of your political game, you would have performed well enough on field not to have been dropped.

  9. For you people who just don’t get
    For indigenous peoples to sing The Australian anthem would be like asking anzacs to sing the Turkish anthem

  10. When all is said & done.
    I think NSW went funny on Mitchell ,when he dished out rubbish for the state team. He did it again for Australia against Tonga.
    Some Chicken supporters talk about the excellent coaching at the Chickens & how that club makes the players who are there so special.
    What happened with Mitchell? Did he miss training sessions? When he feels under pressure , he rushes out of the defence line. Misses tackles & leaves holes in the defence . As well as just throwing the ball away , to the opposition.
    The other things don’t matter that much.
    Improve your skills Latrell. Then the rep teams won’t go funny on you.

  11. Eels almighty there’s no special treatment for being indigenous. The same welfare payments are available to everyone just as public housing is available to everyone. There’s a myth out there about indigenous getting free this and that but the truth is it’s just the same for anyone. Being the only indigenous bloke among my mates I’ve heard it all. They’ve told me I get all kinds of payments and blah blah. I then explain to them the truth. The response is always we thought you people get everything that type of thinking is a result of the way they were brought up listening to the older racist generation. Generally The Australian public know nothing about our indigenous people

  12. EastOfDivide, I’m in agreeance, Latrell is a spoilt brat who feels by ticking that ‘box’ his entitlements should exceed that of others.
    I, like many Chookies, can take him or leave him ….. nah let him go… I say

  13. You are generalising toddy, which never works well. My mothe in law was 50% indigenous, and was proud to sing the national anthem at sporting events, school events etc. My best mate is 25%, he and his family are also proud to sing the anthem. Also, there are additional benefits that indigenous receive. I used to work for a university, we had special acceptance for indigenous students who did not have to meet the same criteria (ATAR as an example)as other studenst, and there were spots in certain degrees allocated to indigenous. I am not complaining about this, and i realise it isn’t monetary handouts, but it is most definitely special treatment.

  14. On the whole anthem thing with Latrell, I couldn’t care less if he sings it or not, that is his choice. But to use a sporting event to make a political statement is what I don’t agree with.

  15. toddy123, you’re kidding right?
    I could write a novel on it, having spent half my working life in remote/regional WA, but I won’t.

  16. If you’re going to play for Australia, you need to respect the jersey, flag, anthem, etc.

    If you feel that you can’t do any of these things then exercise your right not to be selected.

    There will always be someone to take your place.

  17. I’ll try again, and really briefly.
    Miners need the approval of the locals before they can mine, which has been in place for around 20 years, in WA at least.
    If that approval worked out to be just 1% of revenue, from every mine started in WA over the past 20 years, going to a small percentage of the population, and in addition to their standard government benefits. That’s just 1 component.

  18. So the indigenous let people mine their traditional land? How is that a benefit.
    Since you know so much about the mining industry. There’s a mining magnat name Andrew twiggy Forrest he’s a company name is fortesque metal group. After all the billions of dollars they’ve mined from indigenous land. The indigenous were paid 6 million in money’s and 4 million in infrastructure. This sum equates to for every $1000 the indigenous get 4cents! Wow it sounds like us indigenous are really getting benefits

  19. Toddy123, yes I know mining very well, and I’m very familiar with Twiggy, Fortesque etc. I’d add to that Twiggy has also tried to employ indigenous people too.
    But that aside, you said “Eels almighty there’s no special treatment for being indigenous. The same welfare payments are available to everyone just as public housing is available to everyone. There’s a myth out there about indigenous getting free this and that but the truth is it’s just the same for anyone”, and then you talk about only an additional $10mil, from that 1 mining operation. 1 of about 100 operations, and it’s actually a lot more than the $10mil you quoted, and that’s just 1 aspect.
    My original point is/was there are a lot of potential benefits in being indigenous, even if it’s from a very (very) distant relative.

  20. I’d also add to that I spent a few years as a “company prospector”, which involved working on my own in the absolute middle of nowhere (hundreds of km’s from the nearest little town) and on a few occasions (not many, but a few) I met some indigenous people, and shared a meal of bungarra or roo over the coals, and I never once saw a wallet.

  21. What?? Did you read what I wrote the land is the indigenous peoples, so the indigenous shouldn’t make any money from their on land. How the hell is it a benefit to make a tiny profit from your own bloody land

  22. Or, are you saying I should be asking for money because my great, great grandmother was indigenous?
    It is “my land” because of that isn’t it?
    That’s my point.

  23. Eels almighty let’s try it this way
    Say you own a property and someone wants to stay on that property for several years all the while digging valuable assets from your property. Would you charge them or just let them do what they want? According to you the indigenous people in wa are looking for benefits (handouts)

  24. Also my brother eels almighty to claim something you have to be recognised by the tribe. I know you think it’s as simple as saying I’m black too but the truth you need to have a relationship with the elders to be truly recognised

  25. O.K, that one got through, so I’ll try a little more.
    I’ve tried to respond to all questions/statements, but there not going through.

  26. Toddy123, thank you, I learned something. I assumed it would be easy.
    After all this, I’d just like to say, I’m not a r….ist, but I don’t like people that are out to abuse the system/any system either, and I’m not having a go at you. Quite the opposite, I’m sure.

  27. Mate I’m not a fan of people bludging but all kinds of race peoples in aus bludge it’s not just the indigenous. I think society try’s to paint all indigenous with the same brush. The fact is indigenous peoples are kind and giving don’t get me wrong I’m not saying we are saints there’s also some really bad ones just like any race. But I do think if the public did a little bit of research into the history of indigenous people they might have a better understanding

  28. Well done to Latrell for calling out Rooster man Fittler on his racial discrimination within the Blues camp.
    Love the way rooster Fittler is trying to backpedal his way out of this but obvious Latrell is right.
    Should be removed as Blues coach and all media contracts.

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