Instead of uniting to support Mam, two of Australia’s greatest Indigenous sportsmen decided to stink it up on social media. Choc would post a video on Facebook, then Trellmit would respond with an Instagram post. How boring.

The great regret about both of them is their public persona is at odds with the real man.

Last Tuesday, Mitchell and teammate Cody Walker met NSW Police for several hours, discussing what role he could play in helping quell youth violence in Dubbo and Moree.

“They’ve been helping us with work with Indigenous youth all throughout NSW,” NSW Police assistant commissioner Gavin Wood said. “They do it without any fanfare. They do it because they genuinely care. Can’t fault them.”

Don’t overlook the significance of this. Late last year, Mitchell fronted an ACT Magistrates Court after being charged with fighting in a public place alongside teammate Jack Wighton. The charges were thrown out after the arresting sergeant’s evidence didn’t match bodycam footage.

People don’t see the good Mitchell does. Instead, they see his 33-second interview on Triple M after Souths’ loss to the Broncos on Thursday night. It was an embarrassment to him and his club.

“It’s alright mate, honestly f--- … it was shit,” Mitchell told Ben Dobbin in the middle of Suncorp Stadium. “In the first bit, just a hard game f--- … we showed what we were about. Honestly, they’re big boys, they’re competitors. No wonder why they come runner-up last year so f--- … they’re building on that … I don’t care if I’m swearing, honestly.”

Some have tried to pin this on Dobbin, Triple M’s social media department, and the broadcast media in general for interviewing players after matches.

It’s hard to buy. Rugby league has been broadcast on radio since 1924, and TV since 1961, and of the countless interviews with players in that time it’s hard to recall any player letting rip with four f---s in 30 seconds. Maybe Chris Heighington as they did a lap of honour after the Wests Tigers won the 2005 grand final. It was speculated at the time that he and his teammates had made a pact to drop as many f-bombs as possible on live TV.

Mitchell wasn’t a player caught up in the heat of the moment. Nobody was putting words in his mouth. He knew what he was doing and admitted it midway through the interview. No f---s were given.

Rather, this was a footballer who was daring the NRL to sanction him after he was criticised for commenting on judiciary matters before they are heard.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo won’t breach Mitchell but wants to chat with him instead. Other clubs can barely whinge: the game is littered with examples of coaches and players swearing publicly, only to be issued with a sternly worded warning letter.

I’d suggest most people couldn’t care less about Mitchell swearing like a wharfie. Having dropped the f-word accidentally on radio, and the occasional podcast while retelling footy stories (although with the host’s permission), you won’t see me clutching my pearls over a few swear words.

If I’m a Souths fan, though, I’m less concerned about Mitchell’s blue language as his attitude after a dramatic loss to last year’s grand finalists in a headline match.

“But I’m very happy, scored a hundred tries so that’s something to celebrate tonight,” he said referring to his 79th-minute solo effort. “Yeah, everyone doesn’t give a f--- but anyways.”

This is Mitchell’s ninth season in the NRL, so his tone-deaf remarks after yet another Souths defeat, after missing the finals last year, with Jason Demetriou fighting for his job, can’t be explained as youthful naivety.

Elite players barely acknowledge their milestones until their careers are over.

Elite players also feel losses like they’ve just been punched in the face, which is how Souths captain Cameron Murray looked in the media conference after the Brisbane defeat. It’s how Murray looks after every loss.

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When Sam Burgess quit as Souths assistant coach last season, a narrative was spun about him leaving early to take up the job at Warrington and because of the impending birth of his child.

The truth is he believed Mitchell and Walker were being treated differently to the rest of the squad. Nothing personal, Burgess told those close to him. He just couldn’t accept the double standards at play.

Only those within the four walls at Souths know if this is true, although Demetriou and chief executive Blake Solly have denied in the past that their fullback is given preferential treatment.

For some, it was also ironic: how often did Souths bend the rules for Burgess as a player?

Quite regularly, although the England international left everything he had on the field each time he played, and it didn’t matter if a broken bone was sticking out of his finger, or his cheekbone resembled a smashed crab. How Burgess played many games as he did, with as many injuries as he had to carry, still confounds.

Can the same be said of Mitchell? Now in his fourth season at Souths, he’s been a sorta superstar.

When he’s in the mood, he’s as unstoppable as the player to whom he’s often compared, Greg Inglis. When he’s not, he looks about as interested as a rugby union winger.

There’s a belief that Souths are too scared to rein him in. To have a tough conversation. That he’s been enabled. That it’s on Solly, Demetriou, Russell Crowe, his management at No Limit and now Abdo and V’landys to haul him into line.

Elite players master themselves then the opposition. They don’t need to make brash public statements. How they play is their statement.

They’re accountable to themselves.

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