In Australia, Jai Arrow played one second in his 100th match for South Sydney
In Australia, rugby league player Jai Arrow spent one second on the field in his 100th and final match for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. On Friday, the team defeated the Sydney Roosters 50-20 in a National Rugby League match.
Arrow took to the field at the start of the game, greeted his wife, Berina, and daughter Ayla Ray, and spent the remaining 79 minutes and 58 seconds of the match on the bench. Before he entered the field, former and current Rabbitohs teammates formed a guard of honour in the tunnel.
100th match after diagnosis
According to ABC News, Arrow played his 99th and 100th matches for South Sydney over the past two weeks after publicly announcing in May that he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
In his last full season, he played despite a series of injuries and was named the club's best player, although the Rabbitohs' campaign was unsuccessful. Last week, coach Wayne Bennett helped Arrow put on his boots. During the ceremony, Bennett hugged the player, took his hand and led him to his family.
Rivalry took a back seat
Arrow also embraced teammate Cody Walker. A week earlier, as he was leaving the field in the match against Gold Coast, Arrow asked Walker to scold him so that everything would feel as it had before.
The rivalry between South Sydney and the Sydney Roosters is fierce, but that evening the main focus was on Arrow's appearance. ABC notes that the deterioration of his condition has become noticeable since the public announcement of his diagnosis in May. There is no known cure for motor neurone disease.
