Fresh details are beginning to emerge about the 3.45am altercation that resulted in NRL superstars Jack Wighton and Latrell Mitchell spending the night in police lockup.
The Kangaroos, NSW Blues and Indigenous All Stars teammates were arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning after engaging in a so-called ‘friendly wrestle’ outside a nightclub.
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The good friends had been out celebrating Wighton’s 30th birthday before the night took a messy turn in Canberra’s CBD.
What happened next is the subject of some conjecture however sources with knowledge of the police statement of facts have told News Corp it indicates no punches were thrown between the pair.
The News Corp report reveals that police only intervened in the physical altercation due to fears it could escalate.
A troubling video of the incident emerged on Sunday showing Mitchell screaming in pain as he was arrested and taken into custody by four ACT Police officers who were struggling to fit handcuffs on his giant wrists.
Wighton, who could have walked away from the situation while his good friend was being arrested, then reportedly returned to the scene due to concerns for 25-year-old Mitchell.
He also didn’t want to return home without Mitchell, given the Rabbitohs star was supposed to spend the night at Wighton’s home before returning to Sydney.
The Raiders five-eighth then reportedly said something to police along the lines of: “If you’re going to take him you might as well take me.”
Police then complied – taking both the Raiders and Rabbitohs stars to the police cells.
Wighton was charged with fighting in a public place and failing to comply with an exclusion direction, while Mitchell was charged with fighting in a public place, affray and resisting arrest.
They will appear before the ACT Magistrates Court on February 22, just days before the NRL season launches on March 2.
The pair released a statement on Monday through their manager Matt Rose, founder of No Limit Boxing.
“For legal reasons we cannot comment on the charges that are before the Court at the moment,” the statement read.
“However we wanted to express remorse for putting ourselves in the position to embarrass our Clubs and the NRL over the weekend.
“We were there to celebrate Jack’s 30th with family and friends. While everyone enjoyed a great night, we understand that our wrestle, as harmless as we believed it to be, was a poor decision and may have looked bad.
“We are sorry for this, and know that we need to be better when in public.
“We remain great friends, and are looking forward to proudly representing our community at All Stars this weekend.”
In an indication the pair are still best of mates, they reportedly returned to Wighton’s home after being released from police custody at 10am on Sunday to have breakfast with their partners.
The NRL has not stood the players down as the integrity unit continues its investigation, meaning both are free to play for Indigenous All Stars’ against the NZ Maori All-Stars in Rotorua on Saturday.
Meanwhile, NRL legend Gorden Tallis has suggested the whole drama is a storm in a teacup – insisting the issue has only blown up due to the profile of both players.
“It sounds like (a storm in a teacup), and I haven’t seen the footage,” Tallis told Footy Talk League.
“Two guys having a wrestle. If their names weren’t Jack Wighton and Latrell Mitchell, would we be hearing about it, and would the police have arrested them? That’s the only question that I ask.
“Were punches thrown, was there anyone hurt in the situation? I’d say no, and just two mates – probably one (drink) too many. Started a push and shove and got in a wrestle.”
However The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield on Monday said the pair were “dirty at themselves” for how they behaved.
Rothfield said the incident could have been much worse for Mitchell — and his football club.
“I have spoken to Souths and (Mitchell’s manager) Matt Rose about this and whether there will be some sort of complaint lodged with the ACT Police or when the two boys go to court in a fortnight’s time,” Rothfield told Sky Sports Radio.
“They both told me that Jack and Latrell will more likely be showing remorse when they turn up in court.
“They understand they’ve brought untimely and embarrassing headlines to rugby league on the eve of the season, and they are dirty on themselves for putting themselves in that position.
“That’s not to say, and there were so many eyewitnesses I saw on the Channel 7 report last night, including the manager of the hotel, who were critical of the way police handled it.
“I can tell you — this could have been so much worse, there’s about four police who have Latrell on the ground, he is yelling out ‘my shoulder, my shoulder’.
“Well that was while they were trying to handcuff him, it was so serious South Sydney’s club doctor had to visit Latrell at his home last night just to check it was okay.
“He thinks it is, they are pretty confident it isn’t going to stop him from playing for the All Stars this weekend if he does make the trip to New Zealand.
“They are convinced it won’t stop him from playing Round 1 of the competition, however physios will be monitoring it and if it does get worse, he’ll have to get scans.”
Rothfield said the high-profile players should not be playing up so close to the start of their seasons.
“I guess you have to wonder why million-dollar football players should be in nightclubs at 3am in February when they are so deep into their pre-season,” Rothfield said.
“That’s not to say police haven’t overreacted here with the arrest, but I just don’t think they should have put themselves in that position with so much drama, the face of the game Latrell being seen in graphic CCTV footage after fighting his great mate Jack Wighton.
“These two are as close as any two footballers in the NRL, especially ones from rival clubs.
“To give you an idea of how close their relationship is, Latrell was concerned about going on the Kangaroo tour, the World Cup tour of England, he does get homesick, he loves his farm at Taree.
“It was only that Jack Wighton was going and he basically had one of his brothers you could say in the side that convinced him to go to England.
“Matt Rose explained it to me yesterday, there’s a little bit of rivalry between them, they both think they are stronger than each other.
“Whenever they get together and have a few beers they will have a wrestle to prove it, this time they’ve had too much to drink, it got a little bit out of hand.
“But the eyewitnesses I have spoken to have said it was an over-reaction by the police, in the circumstances of the arrest particularly.
“But the bottom line is, footy players shouldn’t be wrestling in nightclubs, friendly or not.
“That’s the part I am talking about, million-dollar footballers being in nightclubs at that time of the morning and just putting themselves in awkward dangerous positions, where this could have been a lot worse.
“He could have been hurt, how do you prove it was in the police arrest he did hurt his shoulder? How do we know it wasn’t while he was wrestling with Jack?
“I’m not dirty with them having a beer, but they do get an eight-week off-season, that’s the time they party, not this close to the season.”
