South Sydney Rabbitohs forward announces medical retirement
Updated ,first published
Jai Arrow has reached the heights of the rugby league world with determination and grit that make up for what he lacks in physique and sheer natural talent.
As he embarks on the fight of his life, he will need the qualities that got him there.
Sitting next to Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly and coach Wayne Bennett, the South Sydney forward fought back tears after the club announced on Wednesday that he had motor neurone disease.
The devastating diagnosis forced the 30-year-old into immediate retirement, but we are faced with what Solly describes as an insidious and unfair disease, to say the least.
But Arrow has vowed to confront the issue head-on, just as he has done in a decade-long career that has seen him play in a grand final, win the State of Origin series and become Souths’ player of the season just last year.
“I wanted to do this to let people know that I’m okay and ready to fight. Nothing is going to save me easily,” he said in an interview with Nine News, showing that his speech had already been significantly affected.
“I want to do everything I can. Any trial, any medication to keep me going for as long as possible. I want to inspire, too. I want to inspire other people who have been diagnosed.”
Arrow said his one-year-old daughter Ayla is his “greatest strength” and thanked his teammates for treating her the same way every day, in a statement read by Solly.
“To my family and closest friends, thank you for being there for me through all of this. I know the road ahead will not be easy, but anyone who knows me knows that I am competitive, tenacious, and ready to fight this with everything I have,” he said in the statement.
“What I need right now is not sympathy or sadness. What I need is support, understanding and privacy as my family and I get through this difficult time.
“This is just part of my story, and I will share more when the time is right. But for now, I ask everyone to respect my privacy as I continue to work with my doctors and family.”
Rugby league is no stranger to motor neurone disease. Former England international and eight-time Super League champion Rob Burrow fought bravely for almost five years before his death in 2024, aged 41.
Mark Burgess, father of Southern premiership winners Sam, Tom and George Burgess, also died of MND in 2007.
In the AFL arena, legendary former Essendon captain and Melbourne coach Neale Daniher has been with the team since 2013.
‘What I need is support, understanding and privacy as my family and I get through this difficult time.’
Jai Ok
They are all heartbreaking stories, but with Arrow still in the prime of his NRL career and having become a father with partner Berina more than a year ago, the news is heartbreaking.
Arrow has not played for Souths this season due to a serious shoulder injury.
While on the sidelines, he underwent tests and experienced symptoms that he said affected different parts of his daily life.
The diagnosis shook Souths, who vowed to support him.
Bennett, who made his Arrow debut in Brisbane and coached him with the Rabbitohs as well as Queensland, was also emotional and said he “couldn’t be prouder of him”.
“I’m getting goosebumps right now,” the experienced coach said. “That’s the last way you want someone to retire, but that’s the way it is and he’s handling it very well.
“He’s been able to keep coming to training and even though he hasn’t been doing the training that other players have done, he’s trained a lot and can continue to come and go on more trips with us.
“We don’t need to release him. We need him close by.”
Noted for his durability, unyielding defense and work ethic, Arrow played 178 NRL matches for the Broncos, Gold Coast and Souths between 2016 and 2025.
The Rabbitohs were eliminated in the first half of the 2021 grand final against Penrith.
Arrow also made 12 appearances for Queensland between 2018 and 2023.
Despite being awarded the George Piggins Medal as Souths’ 2025 player of the year last September, he still had plenty to offer as a footballer.
But Arrow’s impact on the Rabbitohs goes beyond his contribution as a player.
He was also awarded the Bob McCarthy Club Person of the Year award in 2025, also won the Souths Cares Award and was a finalist for the NRL’s Ken Stephen Medal for his work in the community.
South teammates Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker watched as Bennett paid tribute to the spirit the Arrow brought to the club.
“I’ve been around football my whole life and he’s a football player. He’s that kind of guy, he loves fun, he loves to joke around, he loves camaraderie,” Bennett said.
“He drank a little too much, he had his fill a few times, but that’s his DNA. Everybody loves him. He’s friends with everybody. Nobody treats him badly, maybe Cody occasionally. But they’re best friends and that’s what he brings. He brings a lot to the locker room.”
The average survival time after diagnosis of MND, a fatal and rapidly progressive neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells that control the muscles that allow people to move, speak and breathe, is 2.5 years, but about 5 to 10 percent of people survive more than 10 years.
Arrow’s infectious personality is such that there was room for some humor during the announcement, despite what was to come.
“If you look at his football talent, he’s not what you’d call natural. I mean, to achieve what he’s achieved, he played in Origin, where he was captain of the club… last year he was sixth captain,” Bennett said with a laugh.
“So many captains [we had]. But he managed to get to that point; No one tried harder than he did last year.
“He’s going to fight. That’s why he played all the games he played.”
Chris Barrett is senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Southeast Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age newspapers.Connect with: X or email.
