An emotional Jai Arrow rang the bell before South Sydney's clash with his former club Brisbane on Thursday night. The NRL community has rallied around the 30-year-old and his family since his MND diagnosis, with the Rabbitohs wearing white-out jerseys featuring 'Arrow' on the back of each one. The kits will be auctioned after the game, with proceeds going directly to the Arrow family to support them through the challenges ahead.
Emotional Tribute
Before a speck of dirt touched the jerseys, players from both sides lined up as Arrow walked out with partner Berina and their daughter Ayla. Arrow was already in tears and fought off more as he rang the bell. 'We've never witnessed anything like this, folks. What a moment in this young man's life,' Andrew Voss said on Fox Sports. Every player embraced Arrow afterwards, and an inspired Souths side quickly went up 12-0 over the struggling Broncos.
Neither side has won since Arrow, who played 24 games for Brisbane and 98 for the Rabbitohs, publicly revealed his diagnosis on May 20. 'He's handled it great, so it makes it a lot easier for the rest of us,' Bennett said on Wednesday after unveiling the Rabbitohs' jumper. Arrow rang the bell on Thursday night, three days after tossing the coin at the AFL clash on King's Birthday following the Big Freeze slide raising funds for FightMND.
Team Struggles
The injury-ravaged and freefalling Rabbitohs have lost three straight, tumbling from comfortably inside the top four to equal eighth, while the Broncos are languishing in 12th spot after winning just five of 13 games in their title defence. With victory at Accor Stadium, Souths can kick three wins clear of Brisbane and leave the Broncos' hopes of going back-to-back in tatters. Bennett insists he gets no joy out of beating his old club, who he helped win six grand finals, and is focused solely on Souths' plight. 'I'm not thinking like that,' the super coach said. 'No, look, they're their club. They've got to run their club. I'm with this club here and my priority is this club. So I'm not too worried about what they're doing. We just need to play a game of football that puts us in a position to win it and the rest will look after itself. You get too many theories and none of them really matter and the bottom line is just win.'
Brisbane are without State of Origin stars Reece Walsh and Payne Haas, while the Rabbitohs are missing 11 first-choice players, including co-captain and Blues forward Cam Murray.
