- NRL integrity unit investigates leaked image
- The South Sydney star is currently out injured
South Sydney NRL star Latrell Mitchell is being investigated by the NRL Integrity Unit over a photo that appears to show him leaning over a table with an unknown white substance on it, a report claims.
The leaked photograph appears to show the injured Rabbitohs fullback leaning over the table with his right hand near the substance and his left hand on his face.
An unidentified blonde woman also appears in the image.
It is not known when or where the photo was taken.
The image first came to the attention of Souths and the NRL when a journalist arrived at the Bunnies’ training on Monday and began asking questions, according to News Corporation.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted South Sydney and the NRL for comment.
Mitchell has spent the past few weeks sidelined with a foot injury sustained against Parramatta on July 4.
He was in the stands but did not play in the Bunnies’ 28-16 defeat to the Storm at Homebush last Thursday night.
Latrell Mitchell is reportedly being investigated over an image (pictured) that appears to show him leaning over a table with an unknown white substance in front of him.
The club is still unsure whether he will be able to return to the field this year despite doctors deciding he did not need season-ending surgery on his left foot injury.
It has been a troubled season for Mitchell and Souths, with the club struggling and him battling injuries and poor form.
In June, he spoke about how close he came to retirement and revealed the toll that constant criticism of his play on and off the field has taken on him.
“I feel like a lot of people hate me and don’t know me,” she said.
‘A lot of people hate me for making me the villain all the time, so I tend to close the doors on who I am as a person.
‘This is how I am right now because this is how I have been screwed in the past, but I have learned a lot from those situations when I was young and from being taken advantage of.
‘The way I act on the pitch reflects a bit of the frustration I feel off it. Acting like that is not the way to play football. It’s not the sport I like.
“These brief outbursts of anger are not like me. They are the ones that accumulate over time, over the course of a week, a month or a year, when people constantly attack me.”
In response to criticism from media pundits, Mitchell issued a six-word message.
“If the media would just shut up and let me play, there wouldn’t be any controversy,” he said. “Honestly, if they would just shut up and let me play, there wouldn’t be any controversy.”
Mitchell confirmed reports he was considering early retirement and admitted he was tempted to return home to Taree.
“I didn’t want to go through another year of, you know, pain,” she said.
‘But if you peel back the layers, you can see the people who have made sacrifices for you and you want to make them proud.
“All I’ve ever done is defend my people, defend my culture and defend my family,” he said.
“Honestly, I think if I had kept quiet and continued with my job like everyone says I should do now, I would be the best player in the world.”
More to come…