Phil Gould has questioned Latrell Mitchell's love of rugby league after he was handed a three-game suspension and also issued a concerning act notice.
A two-time title winner with the Sydney Roosters, Mitchell has struggled in the NRL lately and has been a key reason behind the Rabbitohs, beginning with a 1-4 record in opening the season.
In the Rabbitohs loss to the New Zealand Warriors last round, Mitchel was charged for an elbow on Shaun Johnson whilst running the ball and will spend the next few weeks on the sidelines.
While he has been under fire for his performances on the field, he has also been under intense scrutiny for his actions off the field.
He recently had a meeting with NRL CEO Andrew Abdo regarding his conduct in a recent Triple Mย interview and is set to meet with club officials on Tuesday, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Constantly in the headlines for the wrong reasons, he called for Spencer Leniu to be handed a long suspension before the incident was held at the judiciary.
This saw him involved in an ugly social media exchange with Anthony Mundine. He then had an extremely expletive interview on live radio and most recently was charged with a three-game ban.
"If he woke up tomorrow and decided I'm not going to play rugby league and went away to his farm, I would not be surprised," Gould said onย 100% Footy.
"Has anyone ever sat Latrell down and said do you really want to play this game?.
"Are you really in love with this game? Do you love the hard work? Do you love the discipline? Do you love your teammates? Do you love the club? ... or is it just I'll do it because I'm good at it but I'll do it my own way.
"Has someone actually sat him down and said if you had a chance to walk away, would you go? I reckon he would. I reckon he will, I don't see that he's in love with it at all."
The incident against Shaun Johnson saw him accept a three-match suspension on Monday, but he was also issued a concerning act notice for a lifting tackle on Tohu Harris that wasn't charged by the Match Review Committee (MRC).
Coach Jason Demetriou described the incidents as "stupid acts", which add further troubles to the fullback's season.
โMy feedback from the match review committee in relation to the lifting tackle is that he was lifted into a potentially dangerous position but the match review committee felt he didn't follow through, in fact, pulled out of the tackle once he got him into that position. That was taken into consideration,โ Annesley explained viaย NCA Newswireย on Monday
โLatrell has been issued with a concerning act notice for that type of action, that lifting action. But it didn't warrant a charge because of the action that he took to avoid it turning into something that could've been much, much worse.
โYou can always argue that (a sin bin was necessary for the elbow) after a player has been charged with an offence and suspended.
โBut the reason that we do have a two-step process is to try and make sure that if anything isn't treated as harshly as perhaps it might've been on the field, then the match review committee is there as the safety net to make sure that we take action where it's required.
โCertainly there could've been harsher action but the most important aspect of all incidents of foul play is they're ultimately caught at whichever stage of the process they get caught.โ
The Sydney Morning Heraldย has reported that Mitchell will meet with senior club officials at the Rabbitohs on Monday for heart-to-heart talks about his mindset, desire to showcase good performances on the field, and ability to help guide the club off the bottom of the ladder.
It's understood that coach Jason Demetriou will also have his own meeting with the Australia and NSW representative star and will state that he needs to be better on and off the field.
โThe meeting was scheduled well before the match against the Warriors,โ chief executive Blake Solly told the publication.
โEveryone at the club is invested in getting the best from Latrell on the field this season.โ
