The overwhelming sentiment among NRL pundits and fans in response to Latrell Mitchell’s four-week ban was that the South Sydney superstar had been harshly treated.
But the man who felt the force of Mitchell’s left forearm to his face believes the former Dally M medal front-runner’s punishment was at least 10 minutes too light.
Mitchell was charged with grade two dangerous contact for his high shot on Wests Tigers winger David Nofoaluma in the Round 6 clash.
The Rabbitohs full-back attempted to have the charge downgraded but was found guilty at the NRL judiciary and rubbed out of action until Round 11.
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Mitchell’s punishment may have also cost him the Dally M medal, with the in-form full-back docked 12 of the 13 Dally votes he had amassed in the first six games of the season.
Eleven days on from the incident at Stadium Australia, Nofoaluma told Fairfax Media, ‘Yeah, of course it was’, when asked if Mitchell’s suspension was appropriate.
But the Tigers star is still disappointed Mitchell wasn’t sin-binned over the incident in the Bunnies’ 18-14 golden-point victory.
“He made a break literally under 10 minutes later … it would have made a difference,” Nofoaluma fumed.
Meanwhile, Mitchell will have just two games to prove his fitness and form warrant a recall to Brad Fittler’s NSW Blues squad for the State of Origin opener against the Queensland Maroons on June 9.
The 23-year-old has not appeared for the Blues since he was dropped following Game 1 of the 2019 series.
Mitchell last week declared he’ll be ready if called upon by Fittler and insisted he has buried the hatchet with the Blues boss after their falling out following his shock axing almost two years ago.
Speaking at a media conference to promote the Origin opener at the MCG, Fittler insisted there is no animosity between the pair and challenged Mitchell to maintain his fitness during his hiatus.
“The biggest most important part for Latrell at the moment is just what happens over the next three weeks,” Fittler told Channel Nine News.
“He showed he got fit in the off-season coming off a hamstring injury.”
“… There was no major issue it was just the fact that I’ve got a job as a coach and he’s got a job as a player but sometimes they clash, ut no, we’ve spoken since then.”
