Glory Glory to Jai Arrow
A packed house at CBUS Stadium rose to their feet as Jai Arrow led the South Sydney Rabbitohs onto the field for NRL Round 26.
As one of 20-odd thousand Rabbitohs fans who travelled to the Gold Coast in support of Jai’s cause last week, it was a special moment to experience in person.
Seeing Jai dismiss the interchange official with a wave and a cheeky grin perfectly captured his Jekyll & Hyde / Larrikan & Warrior persona; I can’t have been the only Souths fan in the crowd who thought Jai might seize his opportunity for one last hit-up on Saturday afternoon.
In the end though, it was Cam Murray who embraced & subbed his co-captain before taking the field and dominating the Titans middle in a 42-22 touch up on home soil.
South Sydney and the wider rugby league community have done a wonderful job to celebrate Arrow this year.
The role Wayne Bennett has played in that regard while simultaneously guiding the Bunnies to their first finals appearance since 2022 will go down as one of his greatest coaching achievements.
Souths injury troubles over the past few years are well documented at this point.
They led the league in 2024 & 2025 for total injuries (shoutout NRL Physio) and rank third this year at time of writing. Mid- or long-term layoffs to Latrell Mitchell, Jack Wighton, Brandon Smith and David Fifita have all been familiar hurdles to navigate this time around in a campaign where Souths are still yet to field their first-choice starting side.
Arrow needs to be included on that injury list too; the George Piggins’ (Best & Fairest) Medalist of 2025 was an enormous loss for a Rabbitohs pack that has sorely missed his aggression and workrate around the ruck this year.
Bennett’s ability to guide his playing group through this challenging period and manage the emotional toll of the situation has played a huge part in the Bunnies success this year.
He spoke to similar themes earlier in the season when Alex Johnston broke the NRL try scoring record in Round 2.
The moment threatened to become a distraction and the way Souths fell apart against Easts once restarting the game certainly vindicated Bennett’s message.
“It was pretty disruptive,” said Bennett in the post-match.
“The point is, I’ve coached nearly a thousand games and that (the game stopping and the crowd storming the field) hasn’t happened before.”
Adapt & overcome has become a bit of a theme for Bennett’s Bunnies this year.
Now with 26 rounds in the bank and an injury-hit Easts side awaiting them this week, there’s a bit to like about South Sydney as a smokey in this Premiership race ($23 as of Monday morning).
Their likely opponents in Finals Week 1 are either Cronulla (dead in the water without Braydon Trindall), Newcastle (now without Jacob Saifiti and Francis Manuleleua) or North Queensland who will sneak into eighth spot almost by default.
Meanwhile, Easts, New Zealand and Penrith all have star players under injury clouds while Redcliffe will carry the 50-point hoodoo into their maiden finals campaign.
Maybe it’s my South Sydney bias but I like the value in the Rabbitohs to cause some problems in the post-season. The healthiest team often wins the comp and at time of writing it’s Redcliffe and South Sydney with the cleanest bills of health while the heavyweights demand all the media attention.
Bennett’s efforts in guiding and galvanising this group through a tumultuous year have been immense, and Rabbitohs fans can now dare to believe in what profiles as a lottery of a post-season.
Glory Glory!
NRL Round 26 Wrap
New Zealand reclaimed the Minor Premiership on Sunday with a 46-point scoreline against Newcastle and debuted a young Jett Cleary in the process. With a hand in seven of the Wahs eight tries last week, Jett relished the first-grade stage to draw plenty of comparisons to his older brother. Calm, composed and repeatable best describes Jett’s involvements last week; without producing any highlight reel moments, the young half kicked well and took some nice options on fifth tackle against a 12-man defensive line. It’s unlikely he features again the post-season but Jett’s winning NRL debut is another vote of confidence for Andrew Webster’s Warriors.
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Another young halfback – Parramatta’s Ronald Volkman – put an exclamation mark on a career year last week, playing a starring role in the Eels upset win over Cronulla. Jarome Luai arrives next year while Lorenzo Talataina is the future in the blue-and-gold but Volkman has impressed to play beyond expectations as arguably one of the Eels best and most consistent this year. Still without a contract for 2027 and beyond, it won’t be long before Volkman secures his future in first-grade.
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Melbourne won’t feature in the finals this season but there’s a lot to like about how they’re already preparing for next year. Oryn Keeley has proven an instant success in the backrow while Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown has positioned himself as a likely Will Warbrick replacement on the right wing. I’m covering familiar ground here but the way Craig Bellamy has managed to turn the Storm’s season around in 2026 should make him a Coach of the Year nomination at worst.
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While Jai Arrow rightfully commands the spotlight in South Sydney right now, the efforts of Cameron Murray in NRL Round 26 deserve mention here. Two tries, two assists and 40+ tackles against the Gold Coast made for Murray’s best game of the season and has him primed for a must-watch positional clash with Victor Radley this Friday night. Both men are instrumental to their respective attacking systems; Murray is the catalyst for almost everything good Cody Walker does on that lethal left edge while Radley holds the keys to unlocking both Roosters edges in attack – particularly now that Sam Walker is sidelined.