Wayne Bennett may have missed his chance to buy a special T-shirt to celebrate Jai Arrow’s 100th game for the Rabbitohs, but the master coach is still incredibly proud of what rugby league has done to support him during this harrowing time.
Arrow will take the field for game 100 on Friday night and will be replaced after the whistle sounds, just as he was last week on the Gold Coast where there were amazing scenes as the crowd sang You’ll Never Walk Alone as the players walked onto the field.
The pre-game scenes of Bennett helping Arrow put his socks and boots on were as emotional as it gets, with a huge crowd expected at Allianz Stadium to honour the former rep forward who was forced to retire after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
Arrow and his young family were at Souths headquarters on Friday morning where fans lined out the door to get their hands on the special T-shirt.
“I presented his jersey to him this morning for his 100th game, so it was really good,” Bennett said.
“It does mean something. We wouldn’t be doing it if it didn’t mean something. It means an enormous amount to the player personally.
“The game has gotten behind it, so it’s something really worthwhile and something we can all be proud of.”
The game’s oldest rivalry will be put on pause for a few minutes on Friday night, with Roosters coach Trent Robinson praising the Bunnies for what they’ve done to support Arrow.
“I’ve had people around the world send me that vision (from the Titans game) from different codes and competitions,” he said.
“What Souths and the NRL have done is the right thing to do. We spoke about it as a group and just the appreciation that we have for what the game offers us.
“I’m really proud of the NRL and Souths for the way they’ve done that, and I’m really honoured that he can run out there for a 100th game against the Roosters. There’s a lot of emotion that goes around it, but that’ll be amazing tomorrow night.”
The Roosters have rested nine of their biggest stars for the game in which Latrell Mitchell will start for the first time in nearly four months.
The superstar centre came off the bench last week after recovering from a nerve issue that led to back and calf injuries, but it’s unlikely that he plays 80 minutes against his former side a week out from the finals.
“We’re in the risk business, so I’m not thinking about the risk,” Bennett said.
“I’m thinking about him getting out there and playing well and getting the job done. After that we’ll make some other decisions if he’s tired and can’t get through the 80 minutes because he’s been out so long.
“But I’m not thinking that we can’t risk him.”
Originally published as ‘I’ve had people around the world send me that vision’: Amazing scenes for Jai Arrow at Souths training, Latrell unlikely to play 80 minutes