Jai Arrow made a brief but heart-warming return to an NRL field on Saturday as the forward brought up his 99th game for South Sydney Rabbitohs in an emotionally-charged appearance that paves the way for him to reach his 100-game milestone next week.
Arrow was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) earlier this year and immediately announced his retirement from rugby league, leaving him on 98 appearances for the club.
He was given special dispensation by the league to run onto the pitch at the beginning of Souths’ final two regular season games to allow him to bring up 100 games while still mobile enough to walk.
The 31-year-old appeared in full kit before Saturday’s clash with Gold Coast Titans, leading out the Rabbitohs to the strains of You’ll Never Walk Alone as he was given a returning hero’s welcome from both sets of fans at Cbus Super Stadium.
Visibly moved by the reception, he left the field as planned before the first kick of the game and without having had any active involvement in play to take his place on the interchange bench.
South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett, who also coached Arrow for a spell at the Broncos, said before kick-off that his player was “very nervous” but delighted to be a part of the playing group.
“He turns up to train every day and, obviously he can’t train with us now, but the friendship, the mateship is there and he needs us and we need him,” Bennett told Fox Sports.
Bennett said the bus trip to the ground was a bit different to recent weeks, with Arrow back on board.
“I got on the bus and he’s sitting right up the front. He was the first one on the bus. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was just running on, he’s not staying on,” Bennett joked. “So when I go back in the room, I’ll just tell him, mate, you’ve got to come off when the whistle goes, OK?”
The NRL had cleared the way for Arrow to make cameo appearances in Souths’ round 26 and 27 matches – against the Titans and next week’s final regular season game against Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium – after the Rabbitohs requested the one-off rule change.
As part of the agreement, which has the blessing of the Titans, Roosters and the players’ union RLPA, the league granted special dispensation for Souths to name Arrow as an extra player on the team list and have an extra substitution.
The 12-game Queensland State of Origin player moved to the Gold Coast as young boy and later played 56 times for the Titans before switching to South Sydney. Many of friends and family were at the stadium on Saturday.
Since his shock diagnosis in May when he said his “life changed forever”, there has been an outpouring of support from the rugby league world for Arrow. Stand With Jai, a fundraising campaign led by the NRL, has raised over $1m for him and his family. As part of that effort, “the biggest birthday party in the world” was held for him in July, while various players from NRL clubs have followed tries with bow-and-arrow celebrations.
Arrow is one of around 2,750 people are living with MND in Australia. The progressive neurological condition, that damages the nerves controlling voluntary muscle movement, is life-threatening and there is no known cure.