‘I’ve got your back’: The moment Latrell buried race feud with Leniu
Spencer Leniu has heaped praise on NSW teammate Latrell Mitchell for immediately defusing any potential tensions over the Las Vegas racism episode, describing the South Sydney star as “a voice for so many people who don’t have one.”
Mitchell was vocal in his support of Ezra Mam after the Broncos star copped a racial slur from Leniu during the opening round of the season at Allegiant Stadium. Mitchell took to social media to offer his support to Mam and the Indigenous community following the incident, which resulted in Leniu receiving an eight-week ban.
Mitchell’s return to the Blues fold alongside Leniu for the second game of the series in Melbourne had the potential to cause friction, but the pair put the matter behind them on the first day in camp.
“I think that is a true credit to who he is as a person,” Leniu said. “For him just to come [in], the first thing he did was to pull me aside just to let me know, ‘I’ve got your back … Let’s just go rip into some Queenslanders’.
“It’s just a true credit to who is as a person for him to come in and speak to me like that.”
Leniu said he harboured no ill will towards Mitchell for standing up for Indigenous star Mam.
Spencer Leniu and Latrell Mitchell have moved past the race row.
“No, not at all,” he said. “He’s a really passionate person about his culture and his people. He’s a voice for so many people who don’t have one. He was just backing up his people, as I would mine. That’s it.”
Rather than come into camp with trepidation about meeting Mitchell, Leniu said he was excited about the prospect of playing alongside him.
“I’ve played against him so many times and we do a lot of videos to try to stop him. To be by his side, it’s gonna be really exciting,” he said. “He sort of just walked in and I looked at him, I was like, f---, that’s Trell Mit!
“I’ve prepared so hard to play against him because of how much he impacts the game. For him to be by your side, it gives you a lot of confidence.”
The pair have previously crossed paths during their junior footballing days, when Leniu was playing rugby union for Blacktown Scorpions.
“Funny story, I played with his cousin in rugby union and I remember this: my cousin’s mum always used to say, ‘This is gonna be the next Greg Inglis’,” Leniu said of Mitchell.
“He probably doesn’t know this, he used to kick the ball around and we were sort of just like, ‘Nah, he’s not gonna be that guy.’
“The next couple of years, [he is] that guy ... Trell Mit.”
Speaking on Monday, Mitchell said he held no ill will towards the Roosters forward.
“The reflection is all done, we’ve put it behind us, the NRL has dealt with it and we’ve got to move forward,” Mitchell said.
“I’ve got a job to do. Me and him will talk and just let bygones be bygones. The lessons have been learnt and we’ll go from there.”
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