Latrell Mitchell


Latrell Mitchell is an Indigenous Australian professional and national representative rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL, and Australia at international level. He previously played for the Sydney Roosters, winning back-to-back premierships with the club in 2018 and 2019.
Mitchell has also represented the Indigenous All Stars and New South Wales in the State of Origin series.

Background

Latrell Goolagong was born in Taree, New South Wales, on 18 June 1997. He is of Aboriginal descent - from Birrbay & Wiradjuri people.
Mitchell played his junior rugby league for the Taree Red Rovers. Mitchell's older brother Shaquai also played in the Roosters under-20s. Mitchell changed his surname to his father's during his early teens. He is the great nephew of former World No. 1 female tennis player Evonne Goolagong Cawley, with whom he no longer keeps in contact.

Playing career

Early career

In 2013 and 2014, Mitchell played for the New South Wales under-16s and under-18s teams respectively. Mitchell played for the Roosters' S. G. Ball Cup team during the 2014 season, where he was named as the SG Ball Player of the Year, and the man-of-the-match in the SG Ball Grand Final.
In November 2014, Mitchell was selected for the Australian Schoolboys team for their tour of England and France. He was named as player of the series, having scored 13 tries in 7 games.
Mitchell played in the Roosters' NYC team during the 2015 season. On 16 June 2015, he re-signed with the club until the end of the 2019 season. On 8 July 2015, Mitchell played for the New South Wales under 20s team where he played at fullback and scored a try in the 32-16 win at Suncorp Stadium. On 14 September 2015, Mitchell was named on the interchange bench in the 2015 NYC Team of the Year.

2016

Latrell was named in the Roosters' 2016 NRL Auckland Nines squad. During the tournament, he scored 4 tries in 3 games. Mitchell also played in the Roosters' 2016 World Club Series win against St. Helens. In Round 1 of the 2016 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Roosters against the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Mitchell played in every game for the Roosters during the season, finishing with 14 tries as the team's leading try scorer and leading point scorer.

2017

In the first round of the season, he scored a hat-trick in the Roosters' 32–18 win over the Gold Coast Titans at Robina Stadium. He has helped the Roosters climb up the ladder to 2nd place after 26 rounds scoring plenty of tries. He scored the game-winning try in week 1 of the 2017 finals against the Broncos. In the preliminary final against North Queensland, Mitchell endured a horror night which involved him sending two kick off restarts out on the full which both led to tries for the opposition. Sydney lost the match 29-16 in what proved to be one of the upsets of the season.

2018

After a good start to the season, Mitchell was selected to play for New South Wales in The 2018 State of Origin series by coach Brad Fittler. He scored a try in the first match of the series. Mitchell went on to play in the other 2 games of the series where New South Wales emerged victorious winning their first Origin shield since 2014.
In the 2018 finals series, Mitchell was handed a one match suspension after being charged for a crusher tackle on Josh Dugan in the Roosters victory over Cronulla. Mitchell subsequently missed the preliminary final victory over Souths. On 30 September, Mitchell played in the 2018 NRL Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm scoring a try and kicking four goals in the Sydney Roosters 21-6 win.
At the National Dreamtime Awards 2018 Mitchell was named Male Sportsperson of the Year.

2019

In round 6 of the 2019 NRL season, Mitchell scored a try and kicked the winning field goal as the Sydney Roosters defeated Melbourne 21-20 in golden point extra time. In round 8, Mitchell scored a hat-trick and kicked 7 goals as the Sydney Roosters defeated Wests Tigers 42-12 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Before the start of the 2019 State of Origin series, Mitchell declared he would not sing the Australian National Anthem, saying it didn't represent Aboriginal Australians.
After playing in the first game of the 2019 State of Origin series, he was dropped for the second.
In round 14 against Canterbury-Bankstown, Mitchell scored 2 tries and kicked 5 goals in a 38-12 victory at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
In round 18 against Newcastle, Mitchell scored a try and kicked 8 goals as the Sydney Roosters won the match 48-10 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
In Round 20 against the Gold Coast, Mitchell scored 2 tries and kicked 9 goals as the Sydney Roosters won the match 58-6 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
In round 22 against the New Zealand Warriors, Mitchell scored 2 tries and kicked 5 goals as the Sydney Roosters won the match 42-6 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
On 2 October, Mitchell was named as the Dally M centre of the year at the Dally M Awards ceremony.
Mitchell played at centre in the club's 2019 NRL Grand Final victory over the Canberra Raiders at ANZ Stadium. Mitchell was involved in the play which won the match as he threw a flick pass for Daniel Tupou who beat the Canberra defence and then passed back on the inside for James Tedesco to seal the win.
On 7 October, Mitchell was named in the Australian side for the upcoming Oceania Cup fixtures.

2020

On January 10, Mitchell announced on social media that he was departing the Sydney Roosters before the 2020 NRL season. On January 13, Mitchell signed with South Sydney on a one-year deal worth a reported $600,000 for the season with the option of extending for another year in 2021. The contract signing ended months of speculation as in late 2019, Mitchell rejected an $800,000 a year offer to stay with the Sydney Roosters. It was then reported North Queensland and Canterbury-Bankstown were interested in Mitchell's services but both clubs never officially offered any deal.
The next club to offer Mitchell a contract were the Wests Tigers who reportedly offered Mitchell a four-year contract worth $1.2 million a season but this offer was turned down in favour of the move to South Sydney.
On 17 February, Mitchell spoke to the media about his rumoured move to North Queensland saying that he only went to Townsville for a holiday. Mitchell went on to say “No, I just enjoyed the fishing, that’s all it was, I only went for a holiday. It’s good country up there but too hot for me".
Mitchell made his debut for South Sydney in round 1 of the 2020 NRL season against Cronulla-Sutherland. South Sydney would go on to win the game 22-18, however Mitchell was benched by coach Wayne Bennett after just 55 minutes of play.
On 27 April, Mitchell was fined $1000 by the NRL and placed under investigation after he broke strict lockdown protocols with fellow player Josh Addo-Carr by going on a weekend camping trip during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Addo-Carr was also placed under investigation for use of a firearm after he posed with and fired a gun in a video posted on his Instagram page.
On 28 April, Mitchell was fined an additional $50,000 by the NRL for breaching strict self isolation protocols and for bringing the game into disrepute.
In round 5 of the 2020 NRL season, Mitchell scored his first try for South Sydney as the club defeated the hapless Gold Coast side 32-12 at Bankwest Stadium.