South Sydney officially told Latrell Mitchell can’t serve his one-game ban this season

South Sydney’s late legal push to have Latrell Mitchell serve a one-match suspension this season hasn’t worked and the Rabbitohs have been told finally the NRL didn’t believe the star fullback was “fit and available to play” in the final round of the season.

The Rabbitohs supplied medical evidence to support their claim Mitchell could have played in Friday night’s season-ending clash with the Roosters that was rejected by the NRL.

Mitchell posted on social media he was “ready to play” and wanted “answers” from the NRL as South Sydney then engaged lawyers to keep the fight going.

But after the club failed to respond to “several requests” for more information, the NRL made a final call on Friday morning.

“The NRL has informed South Sydney Rabbitohs that Latrell Mitchell will not serve his suspension in round 27,” an NRL spokesperson said.

“Based on information provided, the NRL is not satisfied that the player is fit and available to play in round 27.

“The NRL sought clarification and further information from the club concerning the player’s fitness and availability to participate in the match, including a fitness assessment.

“Despite several requests, this was not provided in the time required to make a proper and informed assessment of the player’s fitness to participate in the match this evening.

“The player will serve the one-match suspension when he is fit and available to play in the 2025 NRL season.”

Mitchell was hit with a combined $120,000 in fines by the Rabbitohs and the NRL after the superstar fullback was photographed with a white substance.

He also received a one-game ban that the club hoped he could serve immediately, but the situation has been complicated by a foot injury that has kept Mitchell sidelined for the past two months and led to Hornby declaring a few weeks ago that Mitchell was done for the season.

But the club’s stance then changed, with Mitchell resuming light training duties in recent weeks. The fullback was on an exercise bike on Tuesday but took no part in their captain’s run on Thursday.

Skipper Cameron Murray trained despite being suspended, while injured stars Campbell Graham, Alex Johnston and Jai Arrow were also at the club’s facilities, with Mitchell making an appearance at the end of the session.

The NRL has made it clear it wants Mitchell to serve the ban in round 1 next season, but Souths were adamant he was fit and cleared by three doctors in a bid to prove he’s good to go this week.

“We are taking legal advice on the NRL’s request for further information and the proposed fitness test,” a statement from chief executive Blake Solly read.

Hornby has been asked questions about his main man almost every week since he replaced Jason Demetriou, which is why he wasn’t surprised to have plenty more thrown his way on Thursday morning.

“I can because like most of my questions this year, they’ve been about Latrell,” he said.

“Every week I’m assuming that there are going to be a couple of questions about him, and nothing has changed.

“He would’ve been (fit to play), but like I said a couple of weeks ago, it was always going to be a long shot with the process. It’s in the NRL and the club’s hands now, so there’s not too much more (I can add).”

Hornby couldn’t provide much information when asked about the specifics of what’s going on.

“I’ve got no idea,” he replied when asked if Mitchell was happy to do a fitness test with an independent physio.

“I haven’t spoken to Latrell this morning. We’ve had a big morning with a few milestones and that sort of stuff, so we haven’t discussed it.”

He was also asked if Mitchell should be allowed to face the Roosters if his ban is pushed back to 2025.

“I have no idea because I don’t want to say ‘yes’ and then it doesn’t really matter and if I say ‘no’ then it doesn’t really matter,” he said.

“It’s out of our hands now. It’s with the NRL and the club, and they’ll sort it out.”

There’s also a perception that Mitchell can’t possibly be fit to play given we haven’t seen him on the training field for two months.

“We’ve been told (by the NRL) that he isn’t going to be playing in this game, so we’ve taken that approach,” his coach explained.