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Jai Arrow could be in hot water after the Rabbitohs star was heckled by Bulldogs fans on Friday night’s ugly loss to the Bulldogs.
Pulled from the field at the 65th minute, Arrow fired back at the crowd of Dogs fans – and had to be restrained, with police being forced to intervene in the heated exchange.
It puts an ugly exclamation mark on a bad night for the Bunnies, who were thumped 32-0 by the Bulldogs.
However, judging by the scenes from the sidelines, the mood quickly turned ugly as Souths officials coordinated with groundstaff.
“It’s all good mate, nothing in it. Passion got the better of me,” he later told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Arrow was not the only player to be heckled, with debutant Lewis Dodd also verbally abused as he took the field at the hour mark.
However, as Arrow tried to keep his cool the heckling proved too much, with reports someone in the crowd even threw something at the star. Assistant coach John Sutton was brought in to calm Arrow down.
“There was just one bloke carrying on and kept swearing at Jai,” Sutton said.
“He was doing it the whole game. It was all fine in the end.”
One fan was reportedly approached by police, but no action was taken.
However, despite the scenes, Wayne Bennett paid little attention to the noise.
”It would have been good had he got upset on the football field,” the veteran coach wryly admitted.
“I don’t know anything about it.
“They were much better than we were. There’s not much more to say. They turned up. We weren’t at our best. They were certainly very good. The NRL is a tough place. We all have our short turnarounds and that type of stuff, but it’s no excuse.”
“I was next to him, but I didn’t hear it. There were 65,000 people here,” added Cody Walker, who was on the bench when the event took place.
Speaking on Fox Sports, former Bulldogs forward James Graham admitted that while he was sympathetic to Arrow, he believed the star let the frustration of the evening get the better of him.
“Obviously he’s a passionate individual, his team has just been beaten 32-0,” he said.
“I can understand how and why he’d react but at the end of the day you’ve just got to put your head down and cop your medicine because it’s their day in the sun.
“The Bulldogs have won and their fans are going to let you know all about it.”
As of Friday night, no further action has been taken yet by the NRL following the incident.
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