On the backup from Magic Round it seemed like the news of the State of Origin Game I teams would be the news of the week, but in all honesty it took a back seat as Souths forward and Queensland representative Jai Arrow announced his medical retirement from rugby league due to his diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease, not even a year after he was awarded Souths’ player of the year… it turned out that the nerve issues in his shoulder that had sidelined him for the entire season to date was something far, far worse.

It was also pretty shocking to see the interview Arrow did with Channel 9 on Wednesday, particularly the way his speech has already become impaired, which would explain why he didn’t talk in the original press conference:

That’s at least the 3rd rugby league player to have a prominent MND diagnosis in the last decade, after Leeds Rhinos great Rob Burrow, who was 37 when he was diagnosed in December 2019 and passed away aged 41 on June 2, 2024, and the Broncos/Cowboys/Queensland prop Carl Webb who was diagnosed aged 38 in March 2020 (His birthday was a few weeks after the diagnosis) and passed away aged 42 on December 21, 2023.

There’s also some other cases, including Scott Gale (passed away aged 39 in 2004), plus former Cronulla & Hull FC player Adam Maher (passed away aged 47 in 2020)…

The common theme is that all of these players were mostly in their late 30s and retired when they were diagnosed… Arrow is/was still an active player and only 30, which makes it all the more unsettling.

So trying to recover from that shock news, there is a State of Origin game occurring within a week, and if you want my prediction for Origin I, here it is…

The referee will give one team 6 penalties in the opening 20 minutes, before giving the other team at least 3 consecutive 6 again calls before half time, which results in a player going to the sin bin, before the whistle gets mysteriously put away in the last 20 minutes…

Also, the team that loses Game I will win the penalty count in Game II, because you can’t make money on a dead rubber, don’t you know?

Now, on to the club games for this weekend, as the first of the Origin byes hits clubland and we try and work out which teams have got key players missing, given these games produce upsets galore:

– The Thursday night game has the Canberra Raiders come off the bye and host the Dolphins in Canberra, with both teams missing a pair of players to Origin duty as Raiders pair Ethan Strange and Hudson Young are in New South Wales camp and the Dolphins Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Selwyn Cobbo are both in Maroons camp, plus Kodi Nikorima was ruled out with a hamstring injury… of course at the end of last year the Raiders won the minor premiership and rested all their key players for the game against the Dolphins, who promptly put 62 points on them, gave them the 50 point curse for the finals, and the Raiders promptly went out in straight sets.

– Canterbury host the Melbourne Storm on Friday night at the Olympic stadium, two teams badly out of form in 2026 as the Doggies have now lost 5 consecutive games since knocking off Penrith and the Storm are only just recovering from that record losing streak, and this week the Berries have lost Stephen Crichton to Blues camp, while the Storm have lost the trio of Cameron Munster, Harry Grant and Trent Loiero to Maroons camp… although given Munster’s form in 2026 it might not be such a loss.

– The winless St George-Illawarra Dragons, having become the first team to start 0-10 since the 2006 Rabbitohs, host the New Zealand Warriors at Kogarah, with the Warriors having won 5 consecutive games and the Dragons keeping the Panthers honest, to the point that the NRL apologised for incorrectly disallowing Damien Cook’s try before Half Time, and this should be more interesting than it seems, as the Warriors are winning but they lost their first major player as halfback Tanah Boyd ruptured his ACL on Sunday, and this week they’re without Mitch Barnett and Kurt Capewell to Origin.

– Manly host the Gold Coast Titans at Brookvale on Saturday night, as the Fozball era at Manly rolls on, and the Sea Eagles have been relatively unharmed by Origin duties (Unlike past years with DCE and the Trbojevic brothers) as Haumole Olakau’atu and Tolu Koula have gone to Blues camp, plus Lehi Hopoate made his father proud and got suspended, while the Titans have lost Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Jojo Fifita to Maroons camp, although it may not deter them as the Titans have a strangely good record at Brooky, having halved the ledger with Manly since 2007 (12 games, 6 wins apiece)… in fact, only the North Queensland Cowboys have a better record as the visiting team at Brookvale.

– And the lucky last game of the round has the North Queensland Cowboys hosting South Sydney in Townsville, a very rare 4pm game in Townsville, as the Cowboys come off that heroic win against the Roosters in Magic Round where they played 20 minutes with a player in the bin, although they will still be without Tom Dearden (Who also couldn’t recover in time for Origin), plus co-captain Reuben Cotter is on Maroons duty, while Souths obviously rally around the news regarding Jai Arrow’s career-ending diagnosis, but they will have to do it without Cameron Murray as he reclaims his place in the Blues team after an ACL tear last year ruled him out, while Latrell Mitchell and Campbell Graham are both out due to injury, although the record breaker Alex Johnston is in.

So fancy that – 5 games, and the only team without a player missing due to Origin is the Dragons..

Round 11 Result = 6/8

Round 11 Progress Score = 57/88 (64.78%)

Anyway, time for a random musical number… today is little Leo Sayer’s 78th birthday… so here’s his cover of More Than I Can Say that went to No.1 in Australia: