Star duo Latrell Mitchell and Jack Wighton are due to face court a week before the NRL season kicks off after being arrested and charged over an incident outside a Canberra nightclub.
ACT Police said in a statement authorities responded to a fight outside a club on Bunda Street in the City at 3.45am on Sunday.
Police said Canberra five-eighth Wighton was charged with fighting in a public place and failing to comply with an exclusion direction, while South Sydney fullback Mitchell, 25, was charged with resisting a territory public official, fighting in a public place and failing to comply with an exclusion direction.
The two Australia World Cup stars had been celebrating Wighton’s 30th birthday on Saturday night.
Police said the two were scheduled to face ACT Magistrates Court on February 22, a week before the NRL season starts on March 2.
It is unclear if the two players – who have been friends for several years – were allegedly fighting with each other. It is understood both spent the night in custody before being released on Sunday.
Mitchell, 25, posted a picture of the pair from Wighton’s Saturday night celebrations with the caption “happy birthday my brother”.
The NRL’s Integrity Unit is investigating the incident and said it was liaising with the players’ clubs.
But the NRL did not comment when asked if the duo would play in Saturday’s All Stars match.
Both had been named in the Indigenous squad for the game but their participation would now appear to be in some doubt after the Canberra matter.
Nonetheless, Mitchell and Wighton were still named in the NRL’s updated team lists released on Sunday afternoon after a string of injury withdrawals.
The Indigenous squad has been in camp in Sydney and will fly to New Zealand on Monday.
Mitchell and Wighton were members of Australia’s World Cup-winning team last November, and posed together with the Indigenous flag after their victory.
A South Sydney representative said in a statement the club was aware of the matter.
“The Rabbitohs have informed the NRL Integrity Unit about the alleged incident,” the statement said.
A Canberra Raiders statement said the club was cooperating with ACT police.
It is neither player’s first run in with the law, nor is it the Raider’s first birthday-related incident.
Wighton pleaded guilty to a number of charges including assault in 2018, admitting he’d attacked five people outside a different nightclub when also celebrating his birthday.
He received a suspended two-month jail sentence and a $3500 fine for that incident, along with a lengthy NRL suspension and $30,000 fine.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to a firearms charge in 2020, while he received NRL sanctions for breaking lockdown protocols by going on a camping trip during the pandemic.
