{"id":650758,"date":"2026-05-05T08:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T08:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/650758\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T08:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T08:23:13","slug":"nrl-news-2026-latrell-mitchell-ends-media-ban-rabbitohs-press-conference-campbell-grahams-milestone-game-state-of-origin-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/650758\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026: Latrell Mitchell ends media ban, Rabbitohs press conference, Campbell Graham’s milestone game, State of Origin comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Latrell Mitchell<\/a> has finally ended his self-imposed media ban, fronting cameras for the first time in a long time and cracking jokes ahead of South Sydney<\/a>‘s round 10 game.<\/p>\n

The enigmatic Rabbitohs superstar hadn’t spoken to media since 2024<\/a> after he landed in hot water for an expletive-laden Triple M interview<\/a> and white powder scandal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mitchell’s extended absence from official media duties, which all other NRL players are obligated to fulfil, had started to draw criticism in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: ‘Hit home’: Munster’s hope for Storm after Bellamy diagnosis<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: ‘Miles apart’: Zerafa responds to Mundine swipe<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Bears detail that stunned Gal before clash with TV host<\/a><\/p>\n

The likes of James Maloney and Josh Morris had spoken out regarding Mitchell’s stance, but league great Timana Tahu earlier in the year defended the Bunnies centre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But in a surprising turn of events, Mitchell – despite not being listed in the rundown sent by the club on Monday – turned up for a press conference on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Latrell Mitchell speaks to media.\u00a0Nine<\/p>\n

“Welcome to Trellevision,” the 28-year-old said as he walked in.<\/p>\n

Mitchell was immediately asked what prompted him to end his media ban, explaining it was to honour long-time teammate Campbell Graham ahead of a milestone game.<\/p>\n

“[I’m here] for Stretchy, big Campbell is playing his 150th this week and he’s one of my great mates and all-time teammates, I’m very proud of him,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a special occasion this week and I only want to talk on special occasions now.<\/p>\n

“Campbell has been a very good teammate to me for a long time and I thought, what better time to come out and have a yarn.”<\/p>\n

Watch the 2026 NRL season live and free on Nine and 9Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two-time premiership winner was asked questions about his future at the Rabbitohs beyond 2027 and potentially moving to the PNG Chiefs, delivering some one-line replies.<\/p>\n

“Always gotta keep stuff from you guys,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Who’s that? I didn’t even know, is that a team?\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’ll leave that to my manager \u2026 South Sydney is where it’s at.”<\/p>\n

\"Latrell<\/p>\n

Latrell Mitchell delivered an on-field speech on Anzac Day.\u00a0NRL Imagery<\/p>\n

While he was short and sharp regarding plenty of issues, the one thing Mitchell was keen to talk about was his teammates at Redfern after a good start to the season.<\/p>\n

“I love every single one of them,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They’ve all got their different traits and personalities and I connect with a lot of them.”<\/p>\n

Mitchell also confirmed that he approached Wayne Bennett<\/a> about a potential move back to the centres this season and said he “would play front-row” for the legendary coach.<\/p>\n

The topic of representing NSW was also addressed, but Mitchell remained coy.<\/p>\n

“I’ll see how we go \u2026 I haven’t spoken to Laurie (Daley),” he said.<\/p>\n

“I love the Blues, it’s what we represent. When you put the blue on, it’s a different story.”<\/p>\n

\"Latrell<\/p>\n

Latrell Mitchell during the 2025 series.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

He was also asked whether Graham could make his State of Origin debut later this month.<\/p>\n

“Definitely, he’s been in the conversation for a few years,” Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

“Campbell would do the job, he always does and he doesn’t complain, regardless of if he’s got one shoulder or one leg, he will keep going until that final hooter.”<\/p>\n

Mitchell rounded out his presser being asked whether he had anything to get off his chest after remaining silent for so long, hinting at how happy he is right now.<\/p>\n

“Not on camera – I’ll tell you later off record,” he smiled.<\/p>\n

“I’m happy to be here, you can tell I’ve got a smile on my face.”<\/p>\n

Souths will take on the Cronulla Sharks this weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Latrell Mitchell has finally ended his self-imposed media ban, fronting cameras for the first time in a long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-650758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}