Demetriou calls out Latrell for 'stupid' acts

Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou has scolded Latrell Mitchell for the avoidable incidents which saw him placed on report twice in Saturday's loss to the Warriors. 

Mitchell is facing a three-game ban for Dangerous Contact after raising his elbow into the head of Shaun Johnson as he ran the ball back following a kick retrieval in the 19th minute, before being put on report again by referee Liam Kennedy for a lifting tackle on Tohu Harris 13 minutes later. 

It added to what was a miserable day at the office as South Sydney slumped to their fourth loss of the season, with Demetriou unable to hide his frustration with his star No.1 post-match. 

"They are both just stupid things. Just have got to be better, simple as that," Demetriou said on the two on-report incidents for Mitchell. 

"It's balancing emotion over getting our jobs done.

"The desire to want to compete, but also controlling the emotion side of it. 

"That's at the forefront of where we are at at the moment. 

"There's things Latrell needs to be better at, but there's a hell of a lot of other blokes in there as well that need to be better."

The latest incidents come after a string of recent charges for Mitchell. 

Following the Round 4 clash against the Bulldogs last Friday, Mitchell was fined $1800 for a dangerous contact offence which ended Josh Addo-Carr's game.

Last season the Kangaroos and Blues representative also missed the Rabbitohs' do-or-die meeting with the Roosters in Round 27 due to a one-match suspension, which came after he directed an elbow to the back of Knights forward Tyson Frizell while attempting a tackle.

Captain Cameron Murray said while he believed Mitchell would realise the error of his ways on his own, he plans to raise the subject ahead of next Saturday's clash with the Sharks too. 

"Latrell, he's got some pretty good self-reflection and he normally knows what he needs to change before anyone tells him," Murray said. 

"But passing-by conversations won't hurt.

"We are pretty fresh after the game now, but something to think about over the weekend I think."

After picking up their first win of the season against the Bulldogs last week on the back of a 91 percent completion rate, South Sydney returned to some of the bad habits which haunted them through the opening three weeks, making 16 errors against the Warriors. 

The club also added to their growing injury toll on Saturday, with back-up halfback Lachlan Ilias suffering a serious leg injury while playing in the Rabbitohs' NSW Cup side.