South Sydney Rabbitohs captain Cameron Murray has confirmed he spoke to Latrell Mitchell this week after yet another tumultuous week for the club.
Mitchell, whose season is now officially over, was photographed during the week near an alleged white substance.
While there was no indication the substance was of an illicit nature, the NRL slapped Mitchell with a breach notice for "bringing the game into disrepute."
Under current NRL rules, the penalty for players hit with breach notices is not allowed to be publicly revealed until the player has had five business days to respond, however, reports have suggested Mitchell will face a fine, and be banned for one match.
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that the ban will be served in the opening week of the 2025 NRL season too, given Mitchell is currently out with a foot injury and has now reportedly been placed on leave by the club until the end of the current campaign, which the Rabbitohs will miss the finals in.
It comes after South Sydney came up short against the bottom-of-the-table Wests Tigers on Saturday evening, but Murray, who confirmed he spoke to Mitchell this week and said the star fullback "seems alright", said he was proud of his team for blocking out external noise, and said Mitchell's situation had no impact on the game.
"I don't think so. I think the boys handled it pretty well. There wasn't much talk about it during the week and we just focused on the game. The boys did pretty well blocking out the external noise. We have had some practice at that during the year, so I think the boys did well," Murray said during the post-match press conference.
Mitchell, who it's understood will face the South Sydney board in the coming weeks to make a case for the club to not rip his rich contract that runs until the end of 2027 up, is expected to be fit for the start of the 2025 pre-season after a disappointing campaign where injury and suspension have kept him off the park for large chunks.
