Gould's brutal Latrell truth as 2am Vegas detail revealed

Rugby league icon Phil Gould has delivered a brutal message to Latrell Mitchell, stating people around him "didn't rein him in" early in his career.

Mitchell has come under fire for an expletive-laden interview with Triple M after South Sydney's loss to the Broncos.

The club went through its own turmoil last season when assistant coach and Rabbitohs legend Sam Burgess quit over supposed preferential treatment of Mitchell and Cody Walker.

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Walker has since revealed him and Burgess haven't spoken after his departure, despite the former's attempts.

Now Mitchell's actions after the Broncos loss has brought that issue to the forefront again, despite a number of players and experts revealing they don't have an issue with the amount of profanities used. 

NRL legend Paul Gallen expressed his belief that Latrell knew he'd done the wrong thing when he jokingly requested no stories from his interview.

"He tried to cover it up, tried to smother it, tried to make a joke of it," he said on Nine's 100% Footy.

"He knew he'd done the wrong thing, he's not silly Latrell."

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Gallen added his biggest concern was the fullback's happiness over his 100th try despite the loss.

"That's the part for me if you're a Souths fan or Souths player you're like 'Latrell it's not about you mate, it's about the team' ... that's the issue for me," he said.

9news and Sydney Morning Herald Michael Chammas also said Souths figures are "growing tired" of Mitchell's antics, revealing the Origin representative was out until 2am at a club in Las Vegas two days before the side's round one match.

Gould, who explained he's been "complimentary" and also "highly critical" of Mitchell throughout his career said there was a need to have a discussion with the 26-year-old at a younger age.

"I said very early in his career, if you don't pull him into line now you're never going to be able to and I think that Latrell Mitchell has become bigger than some of the people that are trying to control him," he said.

"For Latrell the only advice I would have at the moment is that if he wants to be outspoken, if he wants to be heard - and he does want to be heard, he demands respect from everybody on all sorts of fronts, he speaks out openly on a number of issues, demanding respect - you also have to show respect.

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"And that's all that was the other night, I'm not worried about the expletive language ... it doesn't offend me, but at that time at that place on that platform, you don't swear, it's as simple as that.

"For him to do that is a total lack of respect, a lack of respect for his teammates, for the game, for the media, and the people that are listening at home wanting to see how he felt after that game.

"He needs to respect those processes as much as he wants people to respect the things that he's passionate about. It's as simple as that.

"And if he stopped showing respect for people, people are going to have less respect for what he has to say.

"The media go running to him a lot, on a lot of issues because they know he will comment. And they're going to use him up and he's going to be found out if he keeps allowing them to do that.

"He's also going to be found out because people won't listen to him anymore unless he starts to show respect for the game and people within the game, his teammates and everyone else who's trying to make a living out of the game.

"What he did the other night was disrespectful, simple as that."

Asked how people can step in and try and make a change with Mitchell's actions, Gould doubled down on his assessment it should've been done years ago, suggesting the NRL no longer has no control on the issue. 

"I commented on this many years ago when he was young because you could just see it," he said.

"It was in the embryo stage at the time, I said you need to get over the top of this straightaway because this is a team game. You represent your club, you represent the team, you represent the game as a whole.

"And Latrell was determined on being very individual and very set apart from everybody else. Now he is on the field. He's an elite talent. There's no doubt about it. But off the field, you have responsibilities. It's as simple as that and the people that have had him didn't rein him in. It's been allowed to exacerbate to where it is the point now that the game can't even step up and control it.

"They think that treating him like that is going to fix it. It won't until someone sits the Latrell down and (makes sure) he understands the facts of life, and the facts of life that he's in right now. Now just who's big and strong enough to do that? I don't know."