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How fishing with his father has rested Rooster Latrell Mitchell primed for redemption
MATT LOGUE, The Daily Telegraph
April 17, 2017 11:58pm
TO understand why Latrell Mitchell will never give up his NRL dream — you have to speak to his father Matt.
The former first grade hopeful, now living in Taree, who had his promising rugby league career at South Sydney cut short due to homesickness.
It’s a real life story that drives Latrell to reach the game’s greatest heights and make his dad proud.
This determined drive was rammed home over the Easter break when Latrell spent two days fishing with his father back home in Taree on the NSW mid-north coast.
According to Mitchell senior, the quality time has his son refreshed, refocused and ready to redeem himself in the traditional Anzac Day clash against the table-topping Dragons.
“I just had to get Latrell away from the city and all the noise,” Mitchell senior told The Daily Telegraph.
“Anyone that knows him knows he wants to do the best he can and he doesn’t want to let anyone down.
“He is competitive and wants to play every game, but I told him there will be times when the coach might sit you out one week.
Mitchell with dad Matt before the 2014 Australia schoolboys tour.
“I brought him home after training on Tuesday and then Robbo gave him permission to come up for a couple of days after Friday’s game. He is just a real laid-back kid, so we went fishing together.
“We have an annual event up here called the mullet run, where the mullet hit the sea and a lot of community members go out and we get to hang out with the elders and tell stories. It is just part of our culture and we have competitions fishing against each other.”
Mitchell senior says this time around family and friends has given Latrell invaluable perspective.
Sure he is disappointed to be rested, but he knows it isn’t the end of the world. It’s a positive attitude that makes Mitchell senior confident Latrell won’t fall into the same trap he did during his playing days at Souths.
“I never wanted my boys to play rugby league, because the Super League war stuffed my career,” he said.
“Plus, I stuffed myself up. I had no support down there in Sydney and no family, so I’m so proud of Latrell. He is so competitive and deserves everything he gets.”
In fact, Latrell is so competitive he regularly tries to beat his 43-year-old father at whatever he can.
“But he still hasn’t beaten me over 40 metres yet,” he smirked.
“I’ve got to get that one back, because his mother called it off because she was afraid someone would pull a hamstring.
“Latrell is just passionate and I know he is really passionate about the Roosters.”
Mitchell senior says Latrell is so focused on succeeding he often puts the team before his own health. This was on display against Manly in round 5 when he was sick and missed a match-saving tackle on Sea Eagles centre Dylan Walker in the closing seconds.
“Latrell had food poisoning,” Mitchell senior revealed.
“He defrosted some chicken and left it in the fridge for two days, then decided to cook it up on game day. But he didn’t tell anyone he had food poisoning.
“I told him he has to let someone know. He shouldn’t have played that day because he was crook. He got blasted after the game because Walker scored the winning try.”
Mitchell senior has no doubts the Roosters is the perfect club for his son to succeed. He reserved particular praise for coach Trent Robinson, who he rates highly as a mentor and person.
“Robbo is a very good coach and he knows what he is doing,” he said. “We just leave everything up to him, because he has got a plan for Latrell.
“He knows he has to work on a lot of things and we sit down and talk about a lot of things. I watch his games and I let him know how he went, because he calls me asking for my advice.
“His mother and I are his biggest critics and I just told him to keep working on the little things, even when everyone else has finished training.”
Latrell’s rise from Taree to the Roosters is even more remarkable when you consider his upbringing.
As Mitchell senior attests, the family were never flush with money and even basics like attending football matches was often a battle.
“You know, Latrell didn’t have an easy life growing up,” he said. “I mean, we struggled big time. A lot of time his mother and I couldn’t go to the games because we didn’t have a car at one stage.
“It was also my stupidity. I was just being silly and I was bouncing in between jobs at the time. I couldn’t hold down a fulltime job and I’d busted my knee, so I couldn’t play football anymore and afford to buy a car.
“Latrell remembers all of that and it’s one thing that really motivates him.”
A day rarely passes when Mitchell senior doesn’t miss his fishing mate. Luckily, he doesn’t have to search too far to be reminded of Latrell and his rapid rise at the Roosters.
“We’ve got Latrell’s debut jersey against Souths from last year framed right above my bed,” he smiled. “So I can see it all the time — I’m over the moon for my boy.”
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