Jai Arrow's final NRL game lasted one second, but held a lifetime of meaning

The record books will say Jai Arrow's final game as a South Sydney Rabbitoh lasted exactly one second. But in that second, rugby league made room for a footballing lifetime.

Arrow ran onto the field, waved to his wife Berina and his daughter Ayla Rae, and was cheered by former Rabbitohs teammates who lined the tunnel. South Sydney's fierce rivalry with the Roosters was put aside for the night. The occasion belonged to Arrow.

His final two weeks had brought his 99th and 100th games for South Sydney after his motor neurone disease diagnosis. His last full season had been his hardest, as he carried a series of injuries through a poor Rabbitohs campaign. Even so, he won the club's player of the year award and continued to lead through battles that often seemed lost before kickoff.

Former teammates, including players who had left the club years ago, returned to give him a farewell nobody expected he would need. Cody Walker embraced Arrow after Arrow had asked him the previous week to spray him with water as he left the field, a small gesture meant to make things feel as they once had. Wayne Bennett also held him. The Rabbitohs went on to win Arrow's final match by a wide margin.