Six months before the 30-year-old’s devastating motor neurone disease diagnosis was made public, Souths coach Wayne Bennett has disclosed that the first signs of a significant health issue with Jai Arrow appeared in December.
When Arrow’s condition was revealed on May 20, it shocked the football world. The tough-as-teak player revealed that the terrible and incurable illness was already affecting his speech.
Bennett claimed that as Arrow was getting ready for the current season, warning signs began to sound soon before Christmas last year. “Jai was noticing some changes to himself.” The Bunnies coach told News Corp. “He was not as strong as he had been in the weights room, but he could hold the ball, but he wasn’t gripping it properly.” He also lacked strength in one arm.
According to Souths coach Wayne Bennett, Jai Arrow (pictured) first became concerned about his health during preseason training in December of last year.
Pictured at the press conference announcing the Bunnies star’s forced retirement are Arrow (left) and Bennett.
Something wasn’t right when Arrow (shown with his fiancée Berina Colakovic and their baby Ayla Rae) lost strength in one arm and was unable to grip a football correctly. He continued to train with us, but we removed him from contact sessions. “We thought maybe he had a shoulder injury and that’s when the process started, to find out what was going on with his body.”Even inside the club, we maintained a fairly tight grip.
However, the boys [Arrow’s teammates] were beginning to notice his decline.
Some approached me and said, “Is Jai okay?”
As Arrow gets ready to play for NSW in the opening Origin match on Wednesday, Souths captain Cameron Murray paid tribute to him. “There’s no better bloke and we’re all behind him,” Murray said on Saturday. “We all love him, so we’ll be there with him through this fight.” It’s harsh; life may be harsh at times.
Souths captain Cameron Murray has praised the 30-year-old football star (shown with Colakovic) as supporters urge the NRL to start a fundraising campaign for him.
Arrow has been called to the Maroons’ Origin camp this year after playing nine games for Queensland.
The NRL should launch a “Try for Jai” campaign to help Arrow, a 30-year-old father, fight the deadly illness, according to an internet campaign started by fans and supported by a number of well-known players.
In the past, the NRL had a program called “Try July” when players’ post-try celebrations were rewarded with charitable donations.
If everyone could contribute in some way, whether small or large, I think that would be a fantastic project. Blayke Brailey, a NSW hooker, remarked, “I would love to get on board with that.”
“I think that’ll be an amazing initiative for him, so hopefully the NRL and the clubs can work something out.”
Murray stated that Arrow’s heroics as a Souths player would live on, especially in the recent seasons when he persevered through injuries.Murray remarked, “He’s shown an incredible amount of strength with what he’s been going through over the last couple of months. The strength that he’s shown in the face of such a cruel disease has been amazing.”He has undoubtedly left his imprint on rugby league, especially since joining the team in 2021. “We’re all better people for knowing Jai and we’re all right behind him and it’s really good to see the support that he’s got.”
