Bennett reunion aids Latrell after major 'wake-up call'

Latrell Mitchell has hit the ground running during pre-season with South Sydney after receiving a "wake-up call" last year.

The superstar fullback will miss the opening round of 2025 due to a suspension that stems from an off-field incident last August.

Mitchell was photographed hunched over a table with a white substance while he was out injured and copped punishments from both the NRL and his club.

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South Sydney have stuck solid with Latrell despite the off-field dramas and during an interview with SEN Radio, chief executive Blake Solly said it had all been put to bed. 

"Latrell's challenges towards the back-end of last season were pretty public," he said.

"He's taken that as almost the wake-up call that he needed to focus on his family and his own fitness and make sure he started the pre-season in the best possible shape.

"Credit to him, he's been wonderful and led a lot of the drills. You can see from photos of him just how fit he is and for him now, it's about preparing himself for his first game."

After being limited to just 11 games in the red and green last year due to injury and suspensions, Souths will be hoping to see their marquee man fit and firing on a more consistent basis as they look to move back up the ladder.

Coinciding with the changes seen in Latrell during pre-season is the return of Wayne Bennett, who shares a strong bond with the fullback from his first stint at Redfern.

Solly believes the impact from the legendary coach has been evident in recent months and with a full crop of talent, the Bunnies can surge back into finals contention.

"In terms of Wayne, we've had three years with him before," he said.

"In terms of embedding or onboarding a new head coach, it couldn't be any easier because he has coached most of the players here. He knows the culture of the club and he knows what we stand for, so that was a relief in some ways.

"He's come back and been pretty direct with the players about what we were lacking in the last couple of seasons and the sacrifices that they had to make to get us back to the top of the table and they have taken that on board - non more so than Latrell. 

"I think all of our senior leaders need to have that influence on the rest of the squad.

"There were periods of time last year where Latrell was fit and healthy with Jack [Wighton], Cody [Walker] and Cameron [Murray] … we won six out of seven games and were nearly unstoppable.

"The club hopes we can keep all of them on the field for the whole season and that they have that influence."