Latrell Mitchell is at a low point in his career, exasperating South Sydney fans and getting booed every week by followers of other clubs. But when the Premier, the police minister, the police commissioner, the NRL bosses and several gentlemen in hats fresh out of the local show gathered in Moree this week, they all wanted to be in Mitchell’s aura. All that power, but only one star.

This revealing or alarming state of affairs was made clear when Mitchell and several VIP loads of dignitaries descended on the northern NSW town to promote Operation Pathfinder, a preventative justice program in which rugby league players, led by Mitchell, will steer young people away from crime.

It was Peter V’landys’ idea, by all reports, and he deserves to be congratulated for it. Moreover, in the major rugby league debate of ‘Trell: Charismatic Superstar or Overpaid Bigmouth’, V’landys has stuck his neck out to support Mitchell, which is gutsy and leaderlike. Still, V’landys is not the one who gets abused by 20,000 customers when he goes to work.

It says something when the most criticised player in rugby league is still more influential than all those important office-holders. But criticised Mitchell is, and he’s on the verge of becoming league’s Adam Goodes. That much became evident during the Rabbitohs’ match against the Bulldogs last weekend.

It hadn’t been a surprise to see him booed by Roosters fans. That bad blood is personal, and not unusual when it comes to fans and a player they once idolised but now see as a traitor. That is basic tribalism. They’ve booed him for four years.

But last weekend, Mitchell was booed relentlessly by fans of a different club. Why? It’s just what people do. Will they keep doing it? Round five is a home game against the Warriors, whose Sydney fan base wouldn’t make a loud enough quorum. But next week Souths play Cronulla, then they have a bye, and then they play Melbourne, Penrith and St George Illawarra.

Latrell MitchellCredit: Simon Letch

Those games will clarify whether Mitchell-booing is a Thing. What a disgrace it would be. In 2014, I was seeing Adam Goodes each week for a work project. At an away game in Melbourne, I thought I’d heard Hawthorn fans booing him whenever he touched the ball. He wasn’t aware.

A week later, the same thing happened. He still hadn’t heard – but he soon did. It had crept up, and all of a sudden it was mandatory for thousands of sheep to make a noise because their flock-mates were making the same noise.