NRL superstar Latrell Mitchell has vowed to continue to report racist trolls to police, hoping the arrest of two men last week can be a line-in-the-sand moment.
Mitchell spoke powerfully at a media conference on Monday, declaring he wants to be remembered as "more than just a rugby league player".
Prepared to be an Indigenous leader, he revealed he'd been racially abused since age eight and admitted he'd been left exhausted by constant taunts online.
But the 23-year-old now wants to create change, sick of exposing online trolls by sharing their abuse and now encouraging others to go straight to police.
The South Sydney fullback wants a system where players can forward abusive messages to a go-to person at the NRL who can send details to police.
"I had to find the courage (to speak up)," Mitchell said.
"I've been copping this all my life since I was an eight-year-old kid. My ancestors before me have and nothing's changed.
"I've always aired them out on social media as everyone has seen and I think that's what they wanted to get a kick out of.
"(The arrest) is an outcome that I've wanted for a very long time for people to be accountable for their actions and their words."
Mitchell was adamant he was making his stand for more than just himself, but hoped the arrests would now stop the abuse flowing.
"I think people are going to think twice now," he said.
"It's not even just the rugby league community we need to worry about, it's about the general public, it's about our wellbeing.
"It only takes that one message for someone not as strong as me ... for them to go and do some self harm.
"I don't just want to be known as just a rugby league player."
Mitchell forwarded the allegedly abusive messages to his management, who took them to Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly.
They were then passed onto the NRL's integrity unit, who forwarded them to police.
NRL players already encouraged to alert the integrity unit of online abuse, but Mitchell wants more awareness and is pushing for a streamlined process.
He also wants any system to deal with more than just racial abuse, with social media messages to players rife and threats sent over gambling losses.
"I'm doing it for all of us players, it's just the thing that we have to do now," he said.
Solly praised Mitchell and fellow Indigenous players for the example they were setting.
"He (Mitchell) is a leader in the game, and both for the indigenous community and the NRL community," Solly said.
"He transcends both of those communities and he's a leader.
"In the indigenous community he's got some great supporters as well. I look at Cody (Walker) at our club for example and players at other clubs.
"They are very articulate and very considered and understand the challenges the community face and have some ideas how to address them."
