Phil Gould Tees Off On NRL Judiciary Over Latrell Mitchell's Four-Game Ban

Phil Gould has unloaded on the NRL following Latrell Mitchell's four-game ban.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs ace was slapped with the lengthy suspension after he failed to have his dangerous contact charge on Wests Tigers winger David Nofoaluma downgraded at the judiciary.

For Mitchell himself, it's a huge blow to his Dally M Medal chances.

And for the Bunnies, they'll now be without their electric fullback for just over a month.

Rugby league fans and experts couldn't quite wrap their heads around the decision, one of those perplexed people being Phil Gould.

Gould, no not the popular social media account 'The Gould Father', has gone to town on the NRL judiciary for its decision to ban Mitchell but let Victor Radley go unpunished.

The Sydney Roosters star was involved in a similar incident to Mitchell's over the weekend which saw him sin-binned for a high tackle on Cameron Munster.

But while Radley has seemingly got off scott free, the same can't be said for Mitchell.

After news of the suspension broke, Gus tweeted: "If Latrell Mitchell deserves 4 weeks on the sideline for that incident, I am an astronaut. This game just keeps finding ways to make a fool of itself. Really? 4 weeks? So Latrell was 4 weeks worse than Radley? I must be from another planet. Goodnight all. I've had enough."

Strong words from such a big figure in the rugby league world.

And the post itself certainly gained some traction with over 600 fans showing their support for the statement by liking it.

On the other hand, there was plenty of comments that strongly disagreed with Gus and touched on the fact that Mitchell had kicked out at Luke Garner later in the Tigers game too.

But according to Peter McGrath of the NRL counsel, Mitchell's suspension purely derives from the incident with Nofoaluma.

"There was a very very high lack of care, a lack of duty of care, that Mitchell owes the player in that situation," McGrath said at the judiciary.

"He turns his back, he's not attempting a tackle... you'll see two things, he jumps and at the same time turns his back and twists and pushes and throws his arm out in the direction of Nofoaluma. Mitchell is highly careless because he is throwing that left arm out at the level of Nofoaluma's head... the impact that is such that he is immediately knocked off balance and thrown to the ground."

Souths now face the Canberra Raiders for a chance to go top of the NRL ladder, but they'll have to do so without star man Mitchell who will be watching from the stands.

Topics: nrl news, Latrell Mitchell, nrl, Wests Tigers, Australia, Phil Gould

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry