{"id":819022,"date":"2026-07-23T16:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/819022\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:18:14","slug":"nrl-2026-wayne-bennett-shoots-down-latrell-mitchell-contract-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/819022\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Wayne Bennett shoots down Latrell Mitchell contract theory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett hasn\u2019t given up hope of superstar centre Latrell Mitchell returning this season and has rubbished suggestions his next contract should include clauses to protect the club from potential long-term injuries. <\/p>\n

Mitchell hasn\u2019t played since the round 11 loss to the Dolphins, with a lower-back injury then leading to a calf issue that forced him to leave a training session early.<\/p>\n

The rep star met with a specialist neurologist last week to get to the bottom of it, with Mitchell remaining a week-to-week proposition as Souths look to secure their spot in the finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know that (if he\u2019s played his last game this season). It\u2019s a week-by-week proposition,\u201d Bennett said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s back running now which is good, so we\u2019ll see how that goes. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I do (hope that we get him back this year) and he does too because he wants to play. It\u2019s not like he\u2019s trying to avoid playing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something we have no control over. We have good people around him with experts in their field, so we\u2019ve just got to wait and see now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennett joked that his marquee man should switch to pickleball if he wanted to avoid injuries, but he was far more serious when asked if Mitchell\u2019s next deal should include clauses to safeguard the club. <\/p>\n

Mitchell, 29, has another year remaining on his current deal, with speculation he could be worth around $1.4 million for his next contract. <\/p>\n

While he is the most destructive player in the world when he\u2019s fit, Mitchell has only played 31 NRL games since the start of the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why some people have floated the idea that the Rabbitohs should have incentive-based clauses in the deal where Mitchell would earn money based on how many games he played.<\/p>\n

Something similar was broached when Sea Eagles star Tom Trbojevic was off-contract given all of his hamstring issues. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a terrible idea and I\u2019m not interested in it,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a bit of misfortune that creates the problem. It\u2019s not because him or Tom or others don\u2019t do all the work and all the training.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve either got a contract or you haven\u2019t. We\u2019re not going to make one up based on how many games you played. That\u2019s not going to happen, not at the good clubs anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, John Radel will start against the Storm on Friday night with David Fifita copping a two-game ban at the judiciary.<\/p>\n

Thomas Fletcher will come onto the bench with Cameron Murray and Tallis Duncan out injured.<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018It\u2019s a terrible idea\u2019: Wayne Bennett shoots down Latrell Mitchell contract theory<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett hasn\u2019t given up hope of superstar centre Latrell Mitchell returning this season and has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":819023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[394361,394369,37610,394375,376963,394373,380917,394386,394372,394349,394363,394358,394367,394380,394371,394355,394374,394390,394364,64,63,46936,394368,394350,1650,13149,4509,36683,97924,39598,394388,394359,394376,394385,394365,394362,394377,26796,394383,394356,12979,394381,160168,13307,394353,1082,394370,394366,64026,187,761,762,35062,392121,158,65751,394352,1654,394357,394351,376918,16282,3203,85,354064,394379,382394,394354,384381,387923,382205,378882,54179,377514,394360,378979,394387,394384,378780,394382,376950,378787,54798,394389,394378,380519,364611,1651],"class_list":["post-819022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-next-contract","tag-s-next-deal","tag-37610","tag-31-nrl-games","tag-a-bit","tag-a-calf-issue","tag-a-contract","tag-a-lower-back-injury","tag-a-specialist-neurologist","tag-a-strong-message","tag-a-terrible-idea","tag-a-training-session-early-the-rep-star","tag-a-two-game-ban","tag-a-week-by-week-proposition","tag-a-week-to-week-proposition","tag-all-the-training","tag-all-the-work","tag-another-year","tag-around-1-4-million","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bennett","tag-cameron-murray-and-tallis-duncan","tag-clauses","tag-coaches","tag-contracts","tag-david-fifita","tag-experts","tag-fletcher","tag-friday","tag-good-people","tag-him-or-tom-or-others","tag-his-current-deal","tag-his-hamstring-issues","tag-his-last-game","tag-his-marquee-man","tag-his-next-contract","tag-hope","tag-how-many-games","tag-incentive-based-clauses","tag-injuries","tag-injury-clauses","tag-john-radel","tag-last-week","tag-latrell-contract-theory","tag-latrell-mitchell","tag-latrell-mitchell-contract-theory","tag-misfortune","tag-mitchell","tag-money","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-night","tag-no-control","tag-nrl","tag-playing","tag-potential-long-term-injuries","tag-rabbitohs","tag-rabbitohs-coach-wayne-bennett","tag-sea-eagles-star-tom-trbojevic","tag-some-people","tag-souths","tag-speculation","tag-sports","tag-suggestions","tag-superstar-centre-latrell-mitchell","tag-the-problem","tag-the-2024-season-it","tag-the-bench","tag-the-bottom","tag-the-club","tag-the-deal","tag-the-dolphins","tag-the-finals","tag-the-good-clubs","tag-the-idea","tag-the-judiciary-thomas","tag-the-most-destructive-player","tag-the-rabbitohs","tag-the-round-11-loss","tag-the-start","tag-the-storm","tag-the-world","tag-their-field","tag-their-spot","tag-this-season","tag-this-year","tag-wayne-bennett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819022","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=819022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}