South Sydney fullback Latrell Mitchell if facing at least one week on the sidelines for a high shot on Storm winger Sualauvi Fa’alogo in the Rabbitohs loss to Melbourne on Friday night.
Mitchell was sent to the sin bin in the 49th minute after he slid into a tackle and collected Fa’alogo high.
“It’s direct contact with the shoulder, moderate force, on report, in the bin,” referee Peter Gough said.
The storm flyer was subsequently taken from the field for a head injury assessment, which he failed, meaning he will miss Melbourne’s Magic Round clash with the Raiders next week as he undergoes the NRL’s mandatory 11-day concussion stand down.
If Mitchell decides to challenge the charge at the NRL judiciary next week and is unsuccessful, he risks missing the Rabbitohs’ next two matches, against the Knights and the Broncos.
Latrell Mitchell is sent to the sin bin on Friday nightCredit: Getty Images
Mitchell, who captained the side in Friday’s Anzac Day match, skipped the post-match press conference, along with coach Wayne Bennett following the incident.
Assistant coach Ben Hornby was left to face the cameras, and said he thought Mitchell attempted to mitigate the damage.
“I honestly didn’t get a real good look at it, but look, it did look like he lowered his level a fair bit, and Latrell tried to lower his level,” Hornby said.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got nothing more to say on it because it’s going to be dealt with in the judiciary, so I guess I’ll leave it at that.”
Sualauvi Fa’alogo is taken from the field for a head injury assessment after a high tackle from Latrell Mitchell.Credit: Getty Images
Hornby said the replays made the incident look worse than in real time.
“I thought they both tried [to mitigate the contact],” Hornby said. “He [Fa’alogo] was falling, I thought Latrell was trying to lower his level, but when you’re watching it in slo-mo, it obviously looks a lot worse than what it does when it’s split-second stuff . The judiciary will take care of it, and we’ll live with it.”
Mitchell found some unlikely supporters in Storm coach Craig Bellamy and captain Cameron Munster.
“I know we’re trying to protect a lot of players with obviously the head knocks and stuff, but I’m probably on the side of Craig,” Muster said.
“It’s slippery out there, it’s wet, force on force, a lot of speed, Sua’s very quick, Latrell’s very big and I don’t know where you want Latrell to go there. Sua’s obviously trying to engage him to be able to pass and he slipped over so I feel like sometimes it’s hard to get yourself out of those positions when you’re fully in and into the contact.”
It’s yet another headache for Bennett, who lost playmaker Cody Walker this week to a calf injury. He will spend up to five weeks on the sideline.
The club is also dealing with a raft of other injuries, including captain Cameron Murray, halfback Jamie Humphreys and wingers Tyrone Munro, Mikaele Ravawala and Alex Johnston.
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