Off-contract star Latrell Mitchell has achieved almost everything in rugby league at the age of 25 and declared the next phase of his career is about winning competitions with South Sydney.
The Rabbitohs fullback is a dual premiership winner, has helped lead two clubs to grand finals, been named the Dally M Centre of the year, won Origin series with NSW and become a World Cup winner and he is only at the halfway point of his career.
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Mitchell could easily retire tomorrow and be content with a career that takes most players twice as long to achieve, but the drive to bring titles to South Sydney keeps pushing him to greater heights.
Off-contract in 2023, Mitchell is free to negotiate with NRL rivals for 2024 and beyond, but he seems almost anxious to get a deal done to remain at South Sydney long-term, so he can deliver on his quest to bring trophies back to Redfern in the coming seasons.
“Hopefully I sign with Souths that is my next goal,” Mitchell told foxsports.com.au.
“Once I get that done I just want to win comps. That’s all I’m chasing.
“I want to do that at South Sydney and create a legacy at Souths.”
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Mitchell revealed his contract talks are under way and he is hopeful his management and Souths can reach an agreement soon.
“Mate, well hopefully, we will see how we go,” Mitchell said about a potential Souths extension.
“I have got a bit of time now to start yarning and talking to the South Sydney Rabbitohs and get something done hopefully.
“It would be good to put it in concrete because I don’t want to go anywhere else.
“Those talks are commencing. I will leave it up to my manager. They are working and they do a good job.
“They have been talking together Souths and No Limit and Black Money, so we will see how we go.”
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Another Souths player coming off-contract is Mitchell’s teammate and good friend Cody Walker, who is also in the No Limit stable of stars.
The pair have struck up a brilliant combination on the field and a close bond of it and Mitchell would love nothing more than to keep playing with Walker for as long as possible.
“He is sorting out his contract stuff too and I definitely want to keep going with him and building that combination and showing people what we can do,” Mitchell said.
“I really enjoy playing alongside him and I love his competitiveness and it brings the best out of me and I know I bring the best out of him when we are switched on and doing our job together.
“It would mean a lot to get our contract stuff sorted and set in and know where our futures are at.
“I want to be a Rabbitoh for life hopefully and I can’t wait to do it with him.”
Souths have made five straight preliminary finals without taking home the big prize and while Mitchell admits the Panthers are the benchmark, he quite rightly points out that wasn’t always the case.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Mitchell said of Souths’ bid for a premiership.
“Penrith weren’t always the top tier, but because they have worked so hard they have been able to put players in a position to be successful and they have a good young crop coming through.
“That’s why they are winning and that’s why they are doing what they are doing.
“For us it is our opportunity now to build what we are trying to build and we will be up there amongst the best.
“That’s what we do. We never say die at South Sydney and we will be ready to go.”
Mitchell has been impressed with the professionalism of the younger brigade coming through at Souths, which given the Penrith blueprint of investing in their youth, should help set the Rabbitohs up for more success for years to come.
“It has been good thus far, there is a good young crop coming through and they are very professional,” Mitchell said.
“I don’t think we have had that in previous years and I’m definitely keen to get back and start training and building some combinations with that.
“We are definitely working a bit harder this year focusing on ourselves and putting our energy towards it.
“The goal is to be in the top four, top two at the end of the year and that is where we are heading.”
Never afraid to back himself and set lofty goals and push himself with new challenges, Mitchell recently said he wanted to go down as one of the greats of the game.
Part of that goal was to bring the World Cup home from the UK, which Mitchell achieved with his teammates last month, with the Kangaroos centre scoring twice in the final.
“I wanted to tick it off it is something I hadn’t done thus far in my career,” Mitchell said.
“Now I can pretty much say I have done it all.
“It was a massive achievement in my eyes. To bring the trophy back for our country was an honour and a privilege and I am very proud to have been a part of it.”
Being away from his family for six weeks was tough on Mitchell, but since he has been back and able to share his success with his loved ones, the magnitude of the achievement has hit home.
“I’m very happy to be home with the family and bring the trophy back and I haven’t turned back since,” Mitchell said.
“I can now say that the trip and what we achieved has sunk in a little bit and I am very grateful to be able to be a part of history.
“To put my name in that side and be amongst the players we had over there. It has been good for me to enjoy what I have done and celebrate it back home with my family.”
Speaking to foxsports.com.au at the launch of No Limit’s partnership with Foxtel, Mitchell shared what makes his management company special and why he got involved.
It is clear, Mitchell puts no limits on what he can achieve when he puts his mind to it and paid tribute to the Rose brothers for doing the same.
“No Limit I jumped on board about four or five years ago,” Mitchell said.
“The Rose boys have been in my life since I started playing rugby league.
“They are just such a tight-knit group and people I have been able to lean on.
“They are my family I can say with a whole heart.
“I just congratulate them for today it is a massive achievement and they have been able to rise above a lot of hatred and achieve something that no one thought they were going to be able to do.
“They started form Walgett fights to community events to the big stage and then the world stage.
“Congratulations to them and I am just happy to be here along for the ride and enjoy the journey with them.”
For Mitchell’s rugby league journey there is still plenty to be written and even more to achieve to reach the goals he has set for himself and he has a simple plan to get there.
“Just keep being myself, keep being me and having fun with it,” Mitchell said.
