NRL great's warning over 'wrong message' in Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr furore
Mitchell and Addo-Carr are both hoping to use the All Stars game to serve their suspensions.
NRL great Scott Sattler says he doesn't believe Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr should be able to use the All Stars game on February 15 to serve their respective suspensions and that allowing them to do so would 'send the wrong message'. South Sydney and Parramatta have asked the NRL for the All-Stars clash to count towards Mitchell and Addo-Carr's suspensions, which have carried over into the upcoming season.
Mitchell was banned for one game and then copped a $20,000 fine after a photo emerged of him with what appeared to be a white powder during a trip to Dubbo for coaching clinics earlier this year. The Rabbitohs star was injured at the back end of the 2024 season but unsuccessfully tried to prove his fitness and serve the suspension in round 27, with the NRL knocking back the request and informing the 27-year-old he would have to serve the ban in the new year.
However, the Rabbitohs have reportedly asked judiciary chair Geoff Bellew to allow Mitchell to use the annual All-Stars clash between the Indigenous and Maori teams in pre-season as his one-game suspension. Parramatta have also followed suit after lodging a similar request on behalf of Eels recruit Addo-Carr, who still has three games left to serve on a four-game suspension for testing positive to cocaine while driving - which ultimately cost him his job at Canterbury.
League bosses have been urged to block the applications for both players so they can't use the All Stars game and would instead have to serve the bans in the NRL. And former premiership winner Scott Sattler - who is the son of Souths legend John - says even though he would love to see Mitchell run out in round one next year, the NRL has an obligation to send a strong message.
Sattler suggested he would have no issues with the players using the All Stars game to serve on-field bans for incidents that may have carried over from last season. But he says because both Mitchell's and Addo-Carr's suspensions were for off-field indiscretions, the the pair should be made to serve their bans in the NRL.
NRL great addresses Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr saga
"Respectfully and as a South Sydney fan I want to see Latrell Mitchell on the field as early as possible, absolutely," Sattler said on SEN radio. "But I think because this is an off-field incident, if it was an on-field incident and it was a careless action on the field then I have no problems with the application being lodged and I don't take anything away from Parramatta and South Sydney.
RELATED:
DCE facing Origin dilemma as brutal Billy Slater call looms in 2025
Tigers at centre of ugly backlash as fans fire up over detail in trial game
Mam's punishment could spark law change as Broncos called out
"You'll do everything you can to get your star players on the field and look for every avenue to do that. But I think (using) the All Stars game... to take off one of the games of their suspension, I think is a long stretch seeing as though it's an off-field incident. I know PVL (Peter V'landys) wants the best players on the field, I know he wants headlines as much as possible but as I said, the NRL are being urged to block the application.
"What it does moving forward is it also changes precedence and you like to have precedence across a number of issues in the game whether it's on-field, off-field... and if you do start making allowances then a lot of those precedents have a false future in a sense.... the precedent has been set with Braydon Trindall, Josh Addo-Carr and the amount of games they've missed through the roadside drug test."
Mitchell and Addo-Carr have both represented the Indigenous All-Stars team proudly for a number of years and their absence would be a blow to the annual pre-season showdown. However, the clubs would want the players available as soon as possible after both teams endured disappointing campaigns in 2024. And the NRL could very well approve their applications considering recent examples leading into the international break.
Wests Tigers captain Api Koroisau was able to serve two of his three games ban for Fiji during the international schedule. And Cameron Murray was able to serve his suspension in the PM XIII game, which allowed him to be available for immediate selection in coach Mal Meninga's Kangaroos squad. Nelson Asofa-Solomona also served three of his five-game suspension for New Zealand in the Pacific Championships.
