{"id":854420,"date":"2026-08-14T01:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T01:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/854420\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T01:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T01:30:17","slug":"nrl-2026-fightmnd-jai-arrow-norfolk-island-junior-rugby-league-ice-baths-money-raised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/854420\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026, FightMND, Jai Arrow, Norfolk Island Junior Rugby League, ice baths, money raised"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 1500km from mainland Australia, a group of junior rugby league players wanted to show Jai Arrow he wasn\u2019t fighting alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What started with kids performing Arrow\u2019s iconic \u2018Try for Jai\u2019 celebration soon grew into a community-wide movement, with Norfolk Island raising more than $6500 for Jai Arrow\u2019s Family of League Fundraiser and FightMND.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just snowballed,” said\u00a0Norfolk Island Rugby League club secretary Madeleine Ponini.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It started as a Facebook post saying Friday night footy was going to be a fundraiser for Jai.<\/p>\n

“Then businesses started contacting us left, right and centre.”<\/p>\n

The fundraiser gained momentum when local business owner Sally Christian pledged $500 to the cause and promised that if the community matched it, her husband, local legend Trent Christian, would take part in an ice bucket challenge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"The
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\n The ice bath challenge proved a huge hit on Norfolk Island as the fundraiser gathered momentum.
\n
\n <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time we raised another $500, the community found another local who would be funny to add to the challenge \u2013 then we decided to chuck them all in a horse trough and cover them with ice,\u201d said Ponini.<\/p>\n

Having lost her father to MND in 2007 after a lengthy battle with the disease, Christian said Arrow\u2019s journey struck a personal chord.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For her, the campaign was about more than fundraising. It was an opportunity to highlight a disease that had touched her family first-hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything that shines a light on MND is one step forward. If you’re bringing awareness to a disease, you\u2019re keeping the people affected at the forefront of people’s minds,” she said.<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"The
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\n The community response was overwhelming from young and old alike.
\n
\n <\/p>\n

\u201cDad fought for nine years with MND. He was one of those stubborn fighters, and he was never going to give up.”<\/p>\n

Coming to the Island a month after her father’s passing, Christian credits the close-knit community for helping her through one of the most difficult periods of her life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We had Broncos fans in Souths jerseys, Bulldogs supporters in Broncos colours and New South Welshmen wearing Maroons. It was all just good fun,” she said.<\/p>\n

As donations grew, it was clear that the fundraiser had resonated beyond the rugby league community, with many islanders sharing their own connections to MND.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It was actually quite surprising how many people had been affected by MND in the community,” Ponini said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It was beautiful to see how much it actually meant to people.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a population of just 2000 people, O\u2019Connor said rugby league remains one the community\u2019s strongest connections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody’s got their differences, but in a time of need on Norfolk Island everybody always comes together. It takes a village,” he said.<\/p>\n

With around 120 registered junior players and a school of only 300 students, rugby league occupies a significant place in Norfolk.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Rugby league on Norfolk Island has always been popular. You played for whoever your grandfather played for,” said O\u2019Connor.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
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For the community, the most rewarding moment came when the message reached Arrow.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s always one degree of separation on Norfolk – someone always knows someone,” said Ponini.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After being contacted by a former committee member whose son grew up with him, Arrow passed along his sincere appreciation to the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Norfolk Island Rugby League club plans to continue fundraising, hoping to hold a live auction of signed NRL jerseys and open it to bidders from across the country.<\/p>\n

For O\u2019Connor, the success of the fundraiser has highlighted rugby league\u2019s unique ability to bring communities together.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think someone joked about getting flaming arrows and the next minute they were on the field, but that\u2019s just Norfolk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJai knows he has our support from all the way out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.”\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 1500km from mainland Australia, a group of junior rugby league players wanted to show Jai Arrow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-854420","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\/854420","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=854420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}