Shortly after Jai Arrow announced his retirement via a pre-prepared speech read out by Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly, the 30-year-old conducted his first interview.
It was a stark reminder of the toll that motor neurone disease can take on the body as his speech had noticeably taken a hit.
In the heart-wrenching interview Arrow opened up about his illness vowing to ‘fight’ on despite the diagnosis.
He admitted during his latest interview that his speech was the first thing to take a hit in recent months.
Mark Geyer recently opened up on his emotions around Arrow’s interview, saying, ‘I spoke to him three months ago and compared to what he was last night.
‘Then I saw the story last night and I just burst into tears. I couldn’t stop.
Jai Arrow’s speech was fluent and free-flowing when he spoke with Mark Geyer three months ago
There was a marked difference in his speech in his interview with Nine after he announced his retirement from rugby due to motor neurone disease
‘I said “wow, that’s not good, that’s not good at all”.’
When looking at that interview three months ago, Arrow’s difference in speech really hit home.
At the time he was speaking with Mark Geyer on ‘Life in 5ive’ where he opened up his life aspirations when he was a kid.
Then, Arrow spoke fluently and with an uptempo pace to his voice as he was his usual witty self.
The conversation was solid and engaging as he told Geyer that while he may not have been sure about professional rugby, he always wanted to play football.
It was full of joy and laughter as well as the two joked about the impact of puberty and discussed when their bodies actually changed.
That is a devastating far cry from the interview that Arrow gave to Nine news yesterday following his retirement.
Tragically his speech had already begun to slow as he took his time over every word.
But he has not been deterred by the impact this devastating illness has already had saying, ‘I wanted to do this to let people know I am OK and I am ready to fight.
‘I do really have a lot. Nothing is gonna take me out easy. I wanna do everything I can – any trial, any medication that will maintain me for as long as I can.
‘I want to inspire other people who have been diagnosed.’
He may already be an inspiration to his teammates, but Arrow will also get the chance to be the inspiration for his former Queensland teammates.
Head coach Billy Slater has invited him to be part of the Maroons camp despite his immediate retirement from the sport.
Arrow played 12 games for Queensland and was part of series triumphs in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
The mood was sombre around the Maroons camp as Kalyn Ponga revealed, but he like so many others, backed Arrow to fight.
“It’s terrible news, it’s definitely been spoken about in this camp,” Ponga said.
“I played a lot of footy against Jai and he’s one of those guys you didn’t want to play against because he was so passionate and played aggressively but after the game you wanted to have a beer with him.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones.
“One thing about Jai is he’s a strong bloke. There’s a journey ahead of him but he is a man that’s fit for it.”
