Three months after being told he had motor neurone disease, Jai Arrow walked back onto an NRL field on Saturday, and the crowd at Cbus Super Stadium was in tears before a ball was even kicked.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs forward was diagnosed with MND in May, a disease that attacks the nerves controlling movement, and retired from rugby league within days of the news. That decision left him stranded on 98 games for the club, one shy of the milestone every long-serving player dreams of reaching.

The NRL stepped in with a solution few saw coming. Arrow was granted special dispensation to run onto the field at the start of Souths’ final two regular season matches, allowing him to bring up his 100th appearance while he can still walk unaided.

On Saturday he took the first of those two steps, appearing in full Rabbitohs kit ahead of the clash with Gold Coast Titans. He led his teammates out to the strains of You’ll Never Walk Alone, greeted by both sets of fans as though he had never left.

Visibly moved, Arrow left the field before kick-off as planned, taking his place on the interchange bench rather than in the starting side. He had no active involvement in play. It was, quite simply, about being there.

Souths coach Wayne Bennett, who also guided Arrow during a stint at the Brisbane Broncos, said his player had arrived nervous but happy to be back among the group he calls family.

“He turns up to train every day and he can’t train with us now, but the friendship, the mateship is there and he needs us and we need him,” Bennett told Fox Sports.

Bennett revealed the small deception it took to get Arrow through the day. Arrow was first on the team bus, seated right up front, clearly expecting to stay on for the match.

“I got on the bus and he’s sitting right up the front. He was the first one on the bus. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was just running on, he’s not staying on. So when I go back in the room, I’ll just tell him, mate, you’ve got to come off when the whistle goes, OK?” Bennett said.

Next week’s final regular season match will bring Arrow his 100th and, by his own choice, his last game for the club he has called home. For a competition built on toughness and statistics, it was a rare afternoon when nobody in the stadium was counting anything at all.