“He acknowledged this and we agreed to continue to work together on some important issues impacting the game.”

The meeting came just a day after Abdo rejected suggestions the governing body was afraid to pull Mitchell into line after offering the South Sydney star a personal meeting – rather than a fine – to discuss his profanity-laden radio interview.

‘Players are humans, they’ll make mistakes from time to time.’

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo

Mitchell drew criticism for dropping four F-bombs in a Triple M interview after his side’s 28-18 loss to Brisbane. Canterbury general manager Phil Gould, speaking on Nine’s 100% Footy on Monday, said Mitchell should have been reined in long ago and has “become bigger than some of the people that are trying to control him.”

However, Abdo pointed out that neither Brandon Smith nor Toby Rudolf had been sanctioned for controversial comments made during live interviews, and that meeting with Mitchell was a more productive approach than a fine.

“We expect our players to set a good example and clearly using bad language is an example of what we don’t want our players to do,” Abdo said.

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“But we all make mistakes, and I think we have to take things in context from time to time, there’ll be things said that players regret.

“I’ve heard Latrell acknowledge the fact that he does regret that, and I will have a chat to him in due course.

“There’ve been examples since I’ve been the CEO where we try and work with the players, remind them of their obligations and their responsibilities, and help them develop not only their own brand but the brand of the club they represent and the brand of the sport they represent.

“Players are humans, they’ll make mistakes from time to time. It’s important to make a discerning choice between when the rules have been broken and when there’s an opportunity to actually help people and help develop them.

“So this is actually quite consistent with how we’ve treated incidents of this nature before. We haven’t formally breached a player, we’ve looked to work with them and help them to develop the way in which they communicate more broadly with the fans.”

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