Latrell Mitchell has questioned whether there would be as much coverage of he and Jack Wighton’s arrest if they weren’t NRL stars.
The pair allegedly began wrestling outside a Canberra nightclub at 3.45am while out to celebrate Wighton’s 30th birthday.
Police were called to the scene and both were arrested and spent the night behind bars. Mitchell was charged with fight in a public place, affray and resist territory public official, while Wighton was charged with fight in a public place and fail to comply with an exclusion direction.
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It didn’t take long for the news to break with the incident dominating headlines for the last few days.
Despite the pair due to front court on Wednesday, February 22, they were cleared by the NRL to play this weekend’s Indigenous vs Maori All Stars game in New Zealand.
Although they remained somewhat tight-lipped when questioned by reporters in Rotorua, Mitchell did play down the incident — and questioned the widespread attention.
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“It was just me and ‘Jackie Boy’ being cousins, friendly and doing what we do, just having fun,” he said.
“Would you hear about it if it wasn’t Jack Wighton and Latrell Mitchell?”
Mitchell was specifically asked by reporters in Rotorua if he believes he was targeted by police because of his NRL profile, to which he said: “Everyone’s got a perspective and time will tell.”
Following news of the arrest a distressing video emerged showing the Rabbitohs star screaming in pain about his shoulder as officers pinned him to the ground.
He revealed that he had been carrying a shoulder niggle prior to the arrest.
“That speaks for itself,” Mitchell said in reference to the video.
“I don’t want to talk too much about it.
“The doc’s pretty much cleared me but there’s definitely a few things still going on with it. It’s an underlying issue but the focus now is on getting myself right for the weekend.”
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Mitchell apologised for the distraction in the lead-up to the All Stars clash but also declared he “won’t change for anybody.”
“The club has been very supportive and I can’t thank South Sydney enough. I just want to say sorry to them because obviously it is not what we want ahead of the NRL season,” he said.
“It’s obviously not what we want at the start of an NRL season and it’s not what anyone wants. I want this game to be as clean as possible and to play the game with the passion that I bring and I want to keep that off the field too.
“I won’t change for anybody. Anybody that knows me knows who Latrell Mitchell is and that’s all that matters at the end of the day.”
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Wighton was also apologetic.
“It is not what anybody wants. I am very sorry to the club. I have worked for the last five years to repay my last muck-up,” he said.
“I have a young family and it is never good going through that kind of stuff. It is something I have to live with now.”
