Mitchell and Addo-Carr are both hoping to use the All Stars game to serve their suspensions.
Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr should not be allowed to serve their suspensions during the All Stars game on February 15, according to NRL great Scott Sattler, who also adds that doing so would “send the wrong message.” The NRL has been petitioned by South Sydney and Parramatta to allow the All-Stars match to count toward Mitchell and Addo-Carr’s suspensions, which will continue into the next season.
A picture of Mitchell holding what looked to be white powder during a coaching clinic trip to Dubbo earlier this year led to a one-game suspension and a $20,000 fine. After suffering an injury towards the conclusion of the 2024 season, the Rabbitohs star made an unsuccessful attempt to prove his fitness and serve his suspension in round 27. The NRL denied the plea and told the 27-year-old that he would have to serve the punishment in the next year.
But according to reports, the Rabbitohs have urged Geoff Bellew, the chair of the judiciary, to let Mitchell use his one-game punishment during the yearly All-Stars match between the Indigenous and Maori teams during preseason. After making a similar plea on behalf of Eels recruit Addo-Carr, who still has three games remaining on a four-game sentence after testing positive for cocaine while driving and subsequently losing his job at Canterbury, Parramatta has also followed suit.
In order to prevent both players from using the All Stars game and force them to serve their NRL bans, league officials have been encouraged to refuse their applications. Even though he would love to see Mitchell run out in round one next year, Scott Sattler, a former premiership champion and the son of Souths legend John, feels the NRL has a duty to send a clear message.
Sattler indicated that he would not object to the players serving on-field suspensions for any events that might have persisted from the previous season during the All Stars game. However, he believes that both Mitchell and Addo-Carr should be forced to serve their NRL bans because their sanctions were for off-field infractions.
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 told SEN radio. “However, I believe that since this is an off-field occurrence, I have no issues with the application being submitted, and I don’t take anything away from Parramatta and South Sydney if it was an on-field incident and there was a negligent action on the field.
“You’ll look for every opportunity to get your best players on the field and do everything in your power to do so. However, considering that it was an off-field incident, I believe it is a long reach to use the All Stars game to remove one of their suspension games. As I mentioned before, the NRL is being pushed to oppose the application. I am aware that PVL (Peter V’landys) wants the best players on the field and that he wants to make as many headlines as possible.
“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.”
The yearly preseason matchup would suffer if Mitchell and Addo-Carr were not present. Both players have proudly represented the Indigenous All-Stars team for a number of years. However, following dismal campaigns for both teams in 2024, the clubs would like the players to be ready as soon as feasible. And given similar instances preceding the international break, the NRL might very likely accept their applications.
During the international schedule, Wests Tigers captain Api Koroisau was able to complete two of his three-game suspension for Fiji. In the PM XIII match, Cameron Murray was also able to serve his ban, making him eligible for instant selection in coach Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos side. During the Pacific Championships, Nelson Asofa-Solomona also played three of his five games of suspension for New Zealand.
