{"id":871442,"date":"2026-08-28T12:34:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/871442\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T12:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:34:21","slug":"nrl-news-2026-jai-arrow-to-play-again-for-rabbitohs-rule-change-explained-wayne-bennett-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/871442\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026: Jai Arrow to play again for Rabbitohs, rule change explained, Wayne Bennett comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rabbitohs<\/a> coach Wayne Bennett<\/a> has explained how Jai Arrow<\/a>\u2019s 99th and 100th games will happen, while paying tribute to the outpouring of support from the wider NRL community after the star\u2019s diagnosis with motor neurone disease.<\/p>\n

Arrow was forced to retire effective immediately earlier this season after revealing the MND diagnosis<\/a>, which saw him finish on 98 games for South Sydney.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jai Arrow will take the field on Saturday.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

The tough forward has been the heart and soul of Souths since arriving at the club in 2021, becoming one of the Bunnies\u2019 most beloved players.<\/p>\n

With a potential milestone in the red and green jersey ripped away from Arrow due to his retirement, Bennett and the club found a way to make it happen.<\/p>\n

In the final two rounds, Arrow will run out alongside his teammates and will be on the field when the referee blows the whistle for kick off<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old will then leave the field and be replaced by Cameron Murray<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking to media on Friday morning, Bennett explained why he pushed for the incredible gesture and why it was so important for Arrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what it means to players, to be a 100-game player at a club is a big thing, it\u2019s sometimes even bigger than 200 or 300,\u201d the coach said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was on 98 and thinking about it all, knowing what it would mean to him, he\u2019s been a wonderful warrior and a guy made to play 100 games at a club. We wanted it to be authentic, we didn\u2019t want it to just be \u2018we\u2019ll give you this\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew he couldn\u2019t fulfil all the commitments of playing 80 minutes and all the other stuff, but through a bit of a process, we got to a place where we\u2019re at now. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the referee blows the whistle in the NRL, that\u2019s the start of the game. If you\u2019re on the field at that time and you do your hamstring \u2013 that would still count as a game. They will blow the whistle and then he will leave the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis replacement will come on and that\u2019s not an interchange replacement, the league have been kind enough to make sure that didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennett said the way NRL officials and fans from all clubs have rallied around Arrow in recent months proves how special the game can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t like to take all the credit for it, he\u2019s our player and that\u2019s not something we\u2019ve walked away from or will ever walk away from,\u201d Bennett said. <\/p>\n

\u201cRugby league people have been wonderful in how they\u2019ve handled it and the support they\u2019ve given us and him. That\u2019s what makes the game so special to me. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in a lot of instances in the game with major injuries and stuff like that with players, and the fans have always reached out … we\u2019re very fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Souths will face the Titans \u2013 one of Arrow\u2019s former teams \u2013 on Saturday afternoon, before a round 27 showdown with arch rivals the Sydney Roosters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has explained how Jai Arrow\u2019s 99th and 100th games will happen, while paying tribute…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-871442","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\/871442","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=871442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}