'No other player is unavailable': Heat dialled up on Latrell Mitchell amid media shutout as James Maloney takes aim

Rugby league great James Maloney has dialled up the heat Latrell Mitchell is facing over his self-imposed media ban.

Mitchell has barred himself from press conferences, post-game interviews and appearances on radio and TV since August 2024, when a photo surfaced of the South Sydney ace leaning over a white powder in a Dubbo hotel room.

Addressing the crowd at AAMI Park on Anzac Day after Souths' win against Melbourne sparked fresh calls for his media freeze to be lifted.

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"I just want to say thank you to all tonight," Mitchell said.

"Today is based on the memories of the people before us.

"I am a proud Aboriginal man, I love my culture, I love this country and I appreciate everyone who fought for it."

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Maloney, the retired Roosters and Sharks premiership winner, had strong comments about Mitchell's media ban on a podcast on Wednesday.

"We all [players] understand we get paid decent money, and it all comes through TV rights, and that comes with an expectation that you need to do media," Maloney said on News Corp's Extended Bench.

"I can understand where Trell comes from as he has been hung out to dry for things he did and said, but he needs to also understand that it is what runs our game and brings the pay cheque in.

"No other player is unavailable [for media commitments] and I dare say any other player not under Wayne [Bennett] would be able to do that."

Wide World of Sports contacted both the NRL and South Sydney for comment.

Mitchell's media ban has applied to both the NRL and State of Origin arenas.

NSW Origin legend Benny Elias hit out over the two-time premiership winner's media shutout ahead of last year's series opener in an interview with Wide World of Sports, labelling it "a blight on the game" and calling for the NRL to remind him of how the game works from an "economics point of view".

Former NRL star Josh Morris levelled particularly pointed comments at Mitchell on 2GB last week.

"It's absolutely ridiculous," Morris said on 2GB's Wide World of Sports.

"In an age where we have social media and more access than ever to the players and the record viewership that generates all the funds, and it's part of your contract to speak to the media, I don't know how he gets away with it.

"It's almost like saying, 'I'm bigger than the game'. That's what it looks like to me. I don't understand it. Even a press conference or interview once a month.

"But 18 months, that's taking the mickey."

The Rabbitohs will face the Knights in Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.