The Rabbitohs will dedicate their Thursday night meeting with the Broncos to Jai Arrow, naming the recently retired forward on the extended bench and turning the match into a tribute to a teammate whose career ended suddenly last month. Souths will also wear special edition white jerseys in his honour.
It is the sort of night that gives a routine contest a sharper edge. Arrow, 30, confirmed his MND diagnosis in an emotional press conference last month and immediately retired, and this will be the first time Souths have built a match around him since then. He started his career at Brisbane, playing 24 games for the Broncos under Wayne Bennett before moving to the Titans, and Bennett said the support Arrow has received has been wonderful.
Brad Fittler said the best way to salute Arrow would be through the football itself. “They’re going to put Jai’s name on the jerseys and the Rabbits have got a whole host of things dedicated to Jai,” he said. “A good performance would be the best dedication I reckon.”
That is easier said than done for two sides carrying their own absences into Thursday night. The Broncos are without Reece Walsh, Payne Haas and Kotoni Staggs on Origin duty, while Pat Carrigan is injured and Ezra Mam has again been benched by Michael Maguire. Souths are missing Cameron Murray and the still injured Latrell Mitchell, so the match will be played with both squads well below full strength.
That shortage matters because the Broncos arrive having lost five games in a row, and the pressure around their push to stay in touch with the top eight is growing. Andrew Johns said teams with multiple players out of their spine really struggle, and Brisbane’s missing core has made this one of the more fragile parts of their season. For Souths, the tribute to Arrow only works if it is matched by a result.
Bennett, who coached the Broncos when Arrow debuted, said the players were proud to offer their teammate support. With the jerseys, the bench call-up and the emotion around Arrow’s diagnosis all landing on the same night, the match is set up as more than a gesture. The next question is whether Souths can turn that feeling into a performance that does Arrow justice when the whistle blows on Thursday night.
