South Sydney Rabbitohs forward Jai Arrow is a Redfern outlier.
The 30-year-old has played every game this season, making him one of very few Bunnies first-graders to avoid serious injury in 2025.
Coming off a much-needed bye in Round 19, Arrow spoke of the challenge ahead and the club’s hopes of making a belated run at the NRL finals, despite currently languishing in second last place and, realistically, needing to win six of their last seven games.
“I definitely enjoyed the week off, we needed it to refresh the mind, refresh the body, and hopefully finish the season as strong as we can to make a run, the ladder is so congested from last place to eighth place, sixth place even,” Arrow said.
MORE: South Sydney Rabbitohs team list, latest squad news for Round 20
“It’s obviously tough when you’re losing games, but I really feel as a team we haven’t lost any confidence,” he added.
“We’re putting in so much effort to get no reward, the lapses are killing us, so it’s about trying to to maintain that balance so we’re not chasing our tails towards the end of the game.
“It’s about performing for 80 minutes, not just 50 or 60 minutes.”
Looking ahead, Arrow was upbeat about facing Nathan Cleary and the four-time reigning NRL premiers Penrith on Friday night.
“We should be fresh and ready to go, Penrith are also coming off a five-day turnaround so there’s no reason we can’t get up this week,” he said.
‘I love the man’
Asked if the Rabbitohs had been distracted by the latest noise surrounding the future—and age—of Wayne Bennett, Arrow threw his full weight behind his coach.
“I think it’s pretty harsh that people have come out and blamed Wayne, it’s ridiculous,” Arrow said.
“I’m a big believer a coach is only as good as his cattle, and we need to take more ownership as players.
“This is my fourth year of (Wayne) coaching me out of my ten years in the NRL, I love the man and will stick by him until the day he dies.”
The Rabbitohs clash with Penrith at CommBank Stadium this Friday night in NRL Round 20.