{"id":578793,"date":"2026-04-01T15:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/578793\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T15:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:30:12","slug":"nrl-legend-nathan-merritt-reveals-he-has-12-months-to-live-as-south-sydney-rabbitohs-icon-continues-cancer-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/578793\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL legend Nathan Merritt reveals he has 12 months to live as South Sydney Rabbitohs icon continues cancer battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former South Sydney winger Nathan Merritt has shared the devastating news he will be \u201clucky\u201d to be alive in one year as he continues to fight esophageal and liver cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 42-year-old, who will ring the legacy bell at the Accor Stadium on Saturday when the Rabbitohs take on Canterbury, offered the heartbreaking health update in an interview with Code Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fearful this weekend\u2019s game could be the last he attends, the Sydney-born star said: \u201cI will be lucky to get past 12 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like your soul has been taken away. There are nights where I have my little breakdowns and think about my kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how many more football games I will be going to after this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merritt, father to five children between the ages of 11 and 21, played more than 200 games for South Sydney across two spells, scoring 146 tries and racking up 653 points.<\/p>\n

The NRL\u2019s top try scorer in 2006 and 2011 has said his chemotherapy treatment \u201cmight extend\u201d his life beyond 12 months but that one year is \u201cpretty much\u201d the expectations of the doctors.<\/p>\n

\"Nathan<\/p>\n

Opening up about the moment he was told of his condition, Merritt said: \u201cMy stomach was empty.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou lose thought of everything that\u2019s going on in your mind. You just shut down. Everything is taken away from your mind and you feel like your soul has been taken away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the way I feel at the moment. You feel helpless. It is an indescribable feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well as Merritt ringing the bell, the Rabbitohs will also honour his presence on Saturday by playing a tribute video of his best moments on the big screens inside the stadium.<\/p>\n

And while it will be an emotionally-charged atmosphere for everyone at the ground, Merritt insists he is looking forward to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably could be my farewell (game) \u2013 that\u2019s how you could put it. I don\u2019t know how many more football games I will be going to after this one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to soak in the love from Souths\u2019 members and fans, it\u2019s going to be a great feeling. Seeing all the Souths supporters again, I love being around them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I will cherish, a special moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

On May 29, a celebration luncheon and auction will commemorate Merritt\u2019s career at South Juniors in Kingsford. Tickets for the event are available on South Sydney\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Read related topics:Sydney<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former South Sydney winger Nathan Merritt has shared the devastating news he will be \u201clucky\u201d to be alive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-578793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}