Incoming South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett says he is “not an idiot” who will be changing Latrell Mitchell but he is confident he can revive the controversial fullback’s career.
Mitchell thrived under Bennett during his first stint as coach at the club and the record-breaking mentor scoffed at suggestions he should be switching him to another position after a couple of lean years at the back due to injuries, suspensions and patchy form.
He has not played since injuring his foot against Penrith on July 4 and he will miss the first match of 2025 after he was hit with a one-game ban for a photo that showed him with white powder as Souths pushed for Mitchell to be considered fit and eligible to serve the ban in the final round earlier this month.
“I’m not an idiot. I won’t be changing Latrell. I will just let him play, that’s what he does best,” Bennett told NewsCorp.
“Latrell is fine, he doesn’t need surgery,” he said.
“He is all good, so he’ll start pre-season with everyone else. I don’t know much about Jye Gray, I haven’t worked with him, so I will see what he’s got and what he doesn’t have, but Latrell will be our fullback.
“I’m looking forward to reuniting with Latrell and all the guys down there. It’s a great club.”
Bennett has brought veteran Euan Aitken with him from the Dolphins while Souths have also signed troubled former Manly star Josh Schuster and young English half Lewis Dodd.
Schuster was shown the door by the Sea Eagles after struggling with weight issues but Bennett was impressed after meeting the second-rower.
“He just wants a chance and I’ll give it to him. He’s only a young man, so he’s not finished at all,” he said.”
“I met with him when I was down there last week. I said hello to him. It was a short conversation. I told him I was pleased he made the decision to come to Souths and he looked in great shape and happy.”
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Cody Walker will turn 35 in January but Bennett wants to extend his career beyond next year along the lines of another Indigenous five-eighth who got better with age, Manly legend Cliff Lyons.
“Cody plays to a very high standard so I don’t see any reason why he can’t continue,” Bennett said. “It won’t continue forever, I know that, but Cameron Smith showed us all you can play NRL at 37 and go well into your 30s.
“If Cody is enjoying it, it doesn’t have to be his last year.
“Cliff Lyons was a wonderful player and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was still playing. I don’t think next year will be his last year.”
Foxx fronts Integrity Unit
Canterbury star Josh Addo-Carr is fighting to save his career at the Bulldogs after the winger fronted the NRL integrity unit over his cocaine saga on Thursday night.
Addo-Carr spent two hours at NRL HQ pleading his case after secondary analysis of Addo-Carr’s roadside drug test confirmed a positive reading for cocaine.
He has maintained he did not knowingly take cocaine before being stopped by police after he left the Bulldogs’ Homebush camp to buy a phone charger late at night on September 6.
The 29-year-old accepted a $682 fine and three-month ban from driving over the incident, which Canterbury GM Phil Gould told Channel Nine was “virtually an admission of guilt”.
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The Bulldogs’ season ended with a 24-22 elimination final loss to Manly on Sunday, Addo-Carr opting to stand down from Canterbury’s first final since 2016 rather than create a media circus.
Addo-Carr, his manager Marioa Tartak and legal eagle Nick Ghabaar met with the NRL integrity unit with the Bulldogs’ own talks to follow from that.
He tried to avoid the media as he entered the building and had no comment before or after the meeting.
“The NRL have decided it’s time for them to step in and make a decision on what their punishment will be and then it’ll be up to the club to see what we do from there,” Gould told Channel Nine’s 100% Footy earlier in the week.
“I haven’t spoken to him since the second positive analysis came back. I believe he’s still protesting his innocence but at the end of the day, it’s in his system when he takes the drug test on Friday night.
“How it got there, he needs to work that out and explain that to the people that count.”
After the integrity unit meets to determine any NRL-enforced punishment, Gould will decide whether he feels Addo-Carr should remain at the Bulldogs for 2025, the last year of his contract.
“I think that’s too early to say (whether he will be fired),” Gould said. “(The board) may or may not take my recommendation. They may or may not have another point of view.
“At the end of the day, we’ll do what we think is in the best long-term interest of the club, it’s as simple as that, and all the players understand that: club first, team second, individual third. That’s what we’ll do.”
Plath on Maroons path after Dolphins honour
Dolphins forward Max Plath has capped a stunning rookie season in the NRL by winning the club’s player of the year award.
The 22-year-old shone at lock and hooker in 23 NRL games to claim the Arthur Beetson Medal, and is regarded by Queensland legend Chris Close as a Maroons representative for the 2025 State of Origin series.
Plath is the son of four-time Brisbane premiership winner John Plath and was at the Broncos on a train-and-trial deal at the start of last season before being signed by the Dolphins and playing two NRL games in 2023.
His move paid dividends this year where Plath averaged 42 tackles and 66m per match, with nine of those games played at dummy-half.
Plath was singled out by Wayne Bennett at one early season training session in front of his teammates for his attention to detail, grit and desire. It is also the way he played, with his 33 tackle breaks for the season also showcasing strength and ball running ability.
Such was his form that Plath secured a three-year extension until the end of 2027.
The loss of Queensland forward Tom Gilbert to a season-ending injury was a huge blow for the Dolphins, but if there was a silver lining it was the opportunity that gave Plath to show what he had to offer.
“Max is a great example of someone who made the most of his opportunity,” Dolphins CEO Terry Reader told AAP.
“He got a couple of games under his belt in 2023 and then turned up in pre-season and won all our fitness awards.
“When the opportunity presented itself with Tom Gilbert’s injury he was not only our most consistent forward but also our best player.
“Max really showed his versatility. We lost our hooker Jeremy Marshall-King to injury and he moved into nine and did just as good a job as at lock. It has been a wonderful year for Max.”
The Maroons lost this year’s Origin series 2-1 and Close said Plath had the game and mentality to take the next step.
“Max has still got a lot of development that he can find in his game, but with the trajectory he’s had since the start of this year I’d think he’d be well and truly in contention in next year’s State of Origin series,” Close told AAP.
“He is the type of player that would be a great run-on hooker or a great bench player at Origin level.
“He has also got a little bit of nous required when he sees an opening.”
Plath scooped the pool at the Dolphins awards night where he took out players’ player and best forward of the year. Centre Herbie Farnworth was voted best back, while prop Mark Nicholls (most consistent) and winger Jack Bostock (rookie of year) were others to receive gongs.