A FEW years ago, I declared on this page: "Latrell Mitchell needs to wake up to himself, quick smart, or he risks becoming the next Josh Dugan ... at the end of the day, it probably comes down to one simple question: how does Latrell want to be remembered when he hangs up the boots?"
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It prompted a predictable response - angry emails from a Mitchell fan, accusing me of being a racist.
In his mind, it was fair enough for me to disparage Dugan, a serial offender more renowned for off-field stupidity than his 215 NRL games and multiple Tests and Origins, but when I criticised Mitchell, it was because of the colour of his skin.
As I explained to my accuser at the time: "I suspect a large part of Latrell's problem is that he is surrounded by people like you, who keep telling him he's done nothing wrong."
The issue to which I was referring was the horrendous high shot Mitchell produced that left his former teammate, Roosters centre Joey Manu, with a shattered cheekbone.
Mitchell copped a six-game suspension, which sidelined him for the entire play-off series and possibly cost South Sydney a premiership, after their heart-breaking 14-12 loss to Penrith in the 2021 grand final.
In such a tight content, a proven big-game match-winner like Latrell could easily have changed that result single-handedly.
It wasn't just the "tackle" itself that resulted in widespread condemnation for the NRL's greatest enigma.
It was the complete lack of contrition he showed for a fellow player, a mate, he had left badly injured.
Lo and behold, here we are again, three seasons down the track, and Mitchell is facing more time on the sidelines for his brain explosion in last week's loss to the Warriors.
He was just lucky the elbow, a blatant cheap shot, he threw at Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson did not properly connect, or he would surely have copped even longer than a three-game suspension.
I'd like to think that, during this hiatus, Mitchell might spend a bit of time pondering the direction in which his career is heading, because the legacy he leaves behind appears to be hanging in the balance.
People like the aforementioned disgruntled reader will no doubt lump me in with the "haters", but nothing could be further from the truth.
I'm a massive Latrell fan.
As my colleague Greg Prichard wrote last year, he's "box-office" material who can light up any stadium.
The work he does in Indigenous communities is admirable, deservedly acknowledged last year when he was awarded the prestigious Ken Stephens Medal at the NRL's Dally M presentation night.
My issue is that this guy could potentially be one of the all-time greats, but the way his career his trending, he's just wasting his freakish talent and is never likely to realise his potential.
It's time that Latrell realised the value of discipline, having spent the past few years being mollycoddled by coaches Wayne Bennett and Jason Demetriou, after he was virtually shown the door by Trent Robinson at the Roosters, despite helping them win back-to-back premierships in 2018-19.
For starters, Latrell needs to get himself properly fit. I reckon he's been running around for most of his career about 10 kilograms overweight, which perhaps explains some of injuries.
Instead of flying him to the United States last year to fix a torn hamstring, Souths should have put him on a diet.
He might lose a bit of power and impact, but instead he would, in theory, have greater stamina and speed.
It's not too late for Latrell. He's still only 26, believe it or not.
He should be entering his prime years, yet all we are seeing are increasingly diminishing returns. An attitude adjustment, and hard work, can potentially save him.
Latrell has reached the crossroads in his career. Let's hope he takes the right turn, or he'll find himself heading down the same dead-end street as Josh Dugan did.
