KIERSTEN DUKE: NRL changing the rules to allow Jai Arrow to reach 100 games is what sport is all about

There are moments in rugby league that feel bigger than the game itself. When the results, the ladder and even the rules themselves suddenly feel insignificant.

There’s no doubting this is one of them.

The NRL has made the decision to make a one-off change to its rules so Jai Arrow can be named in the South Sydney Rabbitohs squad and run onto the field with his teammates.

It is one of those rare decisions that reminds us why we love sport in the first place.

Arrow medically retired from rugby league earlier this year after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

He walked away from a career that had delivered 178 NRL games, 12 State of Origin appearances for Queensland and a grand final appearance with Souths in 2021.

But there was one number that was bothering the team. 98.

Arrow had played 98 games for the Rabbitohs since joining the club in 2021. He had never reached 100 games for any of his NRL clubs.

Now, thanks to South Sydney, the NRL, the RLPA and the support of the Gold Coast Titans and Sydney Roosters, that will change.

The NRL has approved a special rule exemption allowing Souths to name an additional player and receive an additional interchange in each of their final two regular season games.

Arrow will wear a full kit, lead the team onto the field and be substituted within the opening seconds without taking part in the actual play.

This means he will reach 100 games for the Rabbitohs. Honestly, who could possibly object to this moment?

There will always be people who point to the integrity of the rules. They will argue that a player who has retired should not be able to simply be added to a team list, or that statistics should only count when they are earned under conventional circumstances.

But you’d have to have a peanut for a brain to be arguing that in these circumstances.

This is about a man who has given most of his life to rugby league being given the opportunity to finish his career on his own terms.

Only 66 players in South Sydney’s 118-year history had previously reached 100 first grade games for the club.

Arrow will become the 67th, joining an extraordinary list of Rabbitohs greats including Clive Churchill, Ron Coote, John Sattler, Greg Inglis, John Sutton, Cameron Murray, Alex Johnston and Cody Walker.

That is his legacy. But there is another legacy being created here too.

Rugby league has always prided itself on being a family. Sometimes that phrase can become a cliche. On this occasion though, the sport is actually living it.

The Rabbitohs came up with the idea. The NRL listened. The RLPA supported it. The Titans and Roosters agreed.

Before we knew it, suddenly the entire game is helping one of its own achieve something incredibly meaningful.

Arrow’s battle with MND has already touched people far beyond rugby league. His courage has inspired teammates, opponents, supporters and athletes across Australia.

Now, when South Sydney runs onto the field against the Titans and Roosters, Jai Arrow will be there with them.

He will wear the jersey, lead his team onto the field and he will become a 100-game Rabbitoh.

There are rules worth protecting in sport. But there are also moments when changing a rule is exactly the right thing to do.

There’s not a single thing anyone could say to me that would make me change my mind that this is one of those moments.

Sometimes sport is about winning. Sometimes it is about losing. But sometimes, thankfully, it is simply about being there for one of your own.