South Sydney teammates expect Latrell Mitchell to serve his one-match suspension this season

Latrell Mitchell’s South Sydney teammates expect the star fullback will serve his white powder suspension this season as the NRL considers updates on his foot injury.

The NRL says Mitchell needs to be passed fit by Souths medical staff to serve the one-game ban he incurred for being pictured with a white powder in a Dubbo hotel room last month.

Souths interim coach Ben Hornby had initially been adamant Mitchell suffered a season-ending injury in round 18, leaving any suspension to wait until 2025.

But Hornby backflipped shortly before the NRL’s sanctions were finalised last Thursday, claiming Mitchell could be fit for round 27 and therefore free to serve his ban when Souths face the Sydney Roosters.

Mitchell did not participate in the Rabbitohs’ field session on Tuesday, riding an exercise bicycle at the club’s Heffron Park headquarters instead.

Three separate doctors engaged by the Rabbitohs cleared Mitchell as fit to play in the last round of the regular season.

As of early on Tuesday afternoon, the NRL was still deliberating, but St George Illawarra-bound Damien Cook expects to see Mitchell playing in round one of the 2025 season.

“It’d be nice to play with him one last time but he’ll get that suspension out of the way [against the Roosters] and a fresh start next year,” the hooker said.

Prop forward Thomas Burgess, who will return to the United Kingdom next year, joked that Souths should have been putting Mitchell through his paces to prove his fitness.

“We’ll get him back in the hot box, get him on the cardio,” the Englishman said.