South Sydney Rabbitohs captain Adam Reynolds fears the NRL could lose Latrell Mitchell as he compared the media spotlight on his star team-mate to that of NBA legend Michael Jordan.

Mitchell has come under fire for flouting social-distancing rules at a controversial camp with Melbourne Storm's Josh Addo-Carr – the pair both fined by the NRL.

South Sydney's Mitchell has faced scrutiny since forcing an early exit from defending champions Sydney Roosters at the end of the 2019 season.

Reynolds launched an impassioned defence of Mitchell, likening the media attention to what Chicago Bulls great and six-time champion Jordan endured in the NBA.

"If anything I think we ought to give it a rest," Reynolds said of the scrutiny on Mitchell on Wednesday as the Rabbitohs returned to training. "The media keep bashing him up and I don't know if you've watched the documentary [The Last Dance] about the Chicago Bulls and what they did to Jordan.

"They almost lost him to the game and I'd hate to see us lose Latrell to all this media pressure. From what I heard there were reporters at his front door the other day.

"Latrell has a newborn baby and he's got a wife with another young child there. He's constantly hounded and he's a human being at the end of the day and I think we need to give him a bit of space if anything. I'm more than excited to get back out there and play footy with Latrell."

Reynolds added: "I'm not worried about him leaving the game, he's got a great family and great support around him, but at the end of the day he's a human being and if you keep knocking him, and keep chasing him everywhere he goes, it can have an effect on anyone.

"It happened to Michael Jordan and he's at the top of the pinnacle of all sports. Latrell is a young kid, yeah he's made some mistakes but he's coming in here all bubbly and he's constantly scrutinised by the media, which I think is unfair."

Meanwhile, Rabbitohs head coach Wayne Bennett insisted he will continue to pick Mitchell at full-back despite questions about his fitness.

Mitchell reportedly appeared off the pace as all NRL teams resumed training midweek, ahead of the planned May 28 restart following the COVID-19 outbreak.

But Bennett told Fox Sports: "Latrell will be playing full-back come round three, I'm confident in him and what he brings to the team.

"I've coached a lot of players over the years and I know this guy's got a lot of talent. He's got enough talent to play any position on the field. The position he'll be playing for South Sydney is full-back.

"It took Darren Lockyer and myself 12 months to get his transition from full-back to five-eighth right and now there's a highway named after him.

"I've been coaching for 40 years so I know what I'm doing. One thing I'm not doing is second guessing myself. Everyone else can have their opinion. Latrell has the ability to turn up wherever he wants. He'll be playing full-back."