The Sydney Football Stadium witnessed a rare scene on Friday night. Jai Arrow, whose career had ended four months earlier, took the field again for a round number.

The count is exactly round

Jai Arrow played his hundredth match for the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Friday, against the Sydney Roosters. The figure is no approximation: since joining the club in 2021, the Australian forward has played 23, 26, 14, 11 and then 24 NRL matches, before the two this season. One hundred, on the dot.

Across his whole career, he has 180 NRL appearances: 24 for the Brisbane Broncos, 56 for the Gold Coast Titans and 100 for South Sydney. He also wore the Queensland Maroons jersey twelve times in State of Origin, between 2017 and 2023.

A career ended in May

Last May, Arrow learned that he had motor neurone disease (MND). He then brought his career to an end, after ten seasons at the top level of Australian rugby league.

His return to the field came thanks to a medical exemption, granted so he could reach the hundred-match mark with his club. He was playing in the second row, but had filled several positions in the pack over his career: prop, second row, loose forward.

His last full season was 2024-2025, with 24 matches, all as a starter.