Jai Arrow scratched from Maroons for Origin III for Covid breach

Jai Arrow effectively fined $50,000 and banned for two games after inviting a woman into Queensland’s Origin camp.

The NRL’s biosecurity blues have caught up with the Maroons after Queensland’s calamitous State of Origin campaign plumbed new depths only days before the final game of the series.

The Maroons have been hammered in two games in succession. They have been criticised over their selections and their preparation. They have been accused of having a drinking culture. They were embroiled in an eligibility furore.

Now, only days before a game that gives them the chance to save some face, they have lost Jai Arrow after the star forward was stood down and suspended for bringing a woman back to his hotel in breach of the game’s biosecurity protocols.

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Remarkably, the NRL has placed a 24-hour security detail around the Maroons to ensure they don’t make another mistake and threaten the Origin series coming to its rightful conclusion.

Arrow issued a statement through the Queensland Rugby League on Thursday night apologising for his actions, which resulted in the NRL handing him a $35,000 fine and a two-match suspension – as well as Origin, he will miss South Sydney’s round 18 game against Canterbury.

“I know I have let a lot of people down, including my teammates, coaching staff and fans right across the rugby league community,” Arrow said.

“For this I am truly sorry. I have fully co-operated with the NRL integrity unit, and I understand the scrutiny and criticism coming my way.”

Arrow will also be forced into a two-week quarantine and forego his $15,000 match payment for Origin. In effect, his errant decision has cost him $50,000, not to mention the damage it has done on a personal level.

Arrow has been in an on-again, off-again long-term relationship with prominent Sydney-based model Taylah Cannon, who was crowned Miss World Australia in 2018. They were photographed together in the dressing sheds after the Maroons’ loss to NSW in Origin I.

Arrow has already departed Maroons camp on Queensland’s Gold Coast and has been accompanied on the drive back to Sydney, such is the concern over his welfare.

His decision to flout the rules – he acknowledged in the QRL statement that he was aware of the rules – has also left the game’s powerbrokers scratching their heads at the stupidity of it all given the game is still dealing with the fallout from the misguided decision by St George Illawarra prop Paul Vaughan to host a party for 12 of his teammates at his Shellharbour home.

The NRL has been locked in talks with state governments over the final game of the Origin series, only arriving at Newcastle after tense talks involving the NSW, Queensland and Victorian governments.

Arrow’s decision to breach biosecurity protocols by bringing a woman back to the team hotel threatened to undo all that work, such is the sensitivity of the situation.

It is understood Arrow brought the woman back to the team hotel on Tuesday night, although South Sydney officials were only informed of developments on Thursday morning.

It is understood Queensland coach Paul Green called his Rabbitohs counterpart and Maroons predecessor Wayne Bennett to brief him on the incident.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said the Project Apollo team had acted swiftly to minimise risk to the Queensland community and the remainder of the Maroons playing squad.

“In our view this is a clear breach of our biosecurity protocols, Jai has been placed into isolation from the squad and will return home to Sydney,’’ he said.

“There are no excuses for breaching the protocols, they are our licence to continue playing — players have to comply, or we will all face the consequences.

“I want to be very clear, any material deliberate repeat offence by a player will result in us removing that player from the approved bubble roster.”

“I’d like to thank Queensland Health for their ongoing assistance in managing the situation and ensuring community health and safety.”

The Maroons have suffered a series of setbacks throughout the Origin series, having lost the opening two games in convincing fashion.

They had hoped to regain some pride with a win in Origin III at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle but that job has now become infinitely more difficult as they deal with the absence of Arrow.

The last thing they needed was to lose another back rower — David Fifita will already miss the game after he failed in a bid to be cleared at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night.

Brisbane prop Tom Flegler is expected to be promoted to the side to replace Arrow. QRL managing director Robert Moore said he supported the swift action taken by the NRL, and also acknowledged the manner in which Maroons staff dealt with the situation once they became aware of the protocol breach.