Rabbitohs officials have confirmed a teenage fan allegedly targeted Mitchell with a racist slur as he walked up the tunnel at half-time during Souths’ 16-10 loss to Penrith on Thursday.

The fan, who was wearing a Sydney Roosters jersey, allegedly left the scene after making the comment but a man who was sitting with him – said to be his father – was ejected by security.

Roosters coach Trent Robinson has apologised to Mitchell on behalf of the club, throwing his support behind the superstar fullback and claiming the incident highlights greater racial issues within Australia.

A proud Birrbay and Wiradjuri man, Mitchell has faced racial taunts in the past and in April 2021 two men were charged for sending him racially abusive social media messages.

Cleary, who has played alongside Mitchell at state and international level –  most recently at the Rugby League World Cup – was stunned by the incident.

“It’s just disgusting,” Cleary said.

“There’s no point in a game where you should feel like you have the right to say stuff like that to a player.

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“I hope they never come back here. They’re not fans if they’re saying that stuff.”

The incident is the second reported case of racial abuse at Bluebet Stadium, after a fan targeted Greg Inglis with a similar slur in 2018.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo threw his support behind Mitchell late on Thursday night, while Souths coach Jason Demetriou said his club would report the matter to police.

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“This is not something Latrell just cops on the footy field, this is something he’s had to deal with his whole life. All Indigenous people do,” Demetriou said.

“I can’t get my head around it to be honest, I don’t understand in Australia how anyone can be raised like that.

“There has to be hard and fast rules, if anyone comes close to getting racial, they are completely ruled out of our game. If it’s a young kid, pull his parents out as well. It’s just not on.”

Despite the incident, Mitchell finished the night as the Rabbitohs’ best player afield and had a hand in two late tries that put the game back within the visitors’ reach.

Robinson was on Friday morning appalled by the incident and labelled it unacceptable.

“It’s really disappointing. We just don’t represent the Roosters in that way. It’s not how we want to act as Roosters,” Robinson said.

“Whether we like it or not, they were wearing our colours. We have to accept that. But it doesn’t mean they are a Rooster.

“If you want to act like that, and abuse people racially like that, then that is not who we are. It’s not who we want to be.

“We need to be better than (that). I’m apologising from the Roosters to Latrell, even though it’s not directly us. Indirectly one of our fans did that, and it’s not right.”

Robinson did, however, admit he was not surprised by the situation.

“Because that’s where we are still at as a country,” Robinson said.

“It’s pretty standard. Some people are casual racists and some people are overt like it was last night. That’s where we’re at.

“People don’t like strong Indigenous voices like Latrell. They would rather he stay quiet and in his box and not express it in that way.

“We are still not at a point where we are able to accept really strong Indigenous voices in this country. That’s really disappointing.”

Robinson also backed Demetriou’s calls for life bans for the offender and their parents.

But as someone who watched Mitchell confront online trolls publicly in 2019, Robinson played down fears the fullback could be driven out of the game.

“He’s too strong for that,” Robinson said.

“He will get stronger and stronger from this. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen it with Latrell.

“He understands it is part of his life … He will use it in his way and the right way.”

-AAP