Rabbitohs star Jai Arrow ran out halfway through his HIA to celebrate thrilling NRL win over Penrith

South Sydney forward Jai Arrow’s excitement over his side’s thrilling win over Penrith on Thursday night might be short-lived after admitting he broke the rules by running out on an HIA test.

The NRL has been cracking down on head knocks and concussions with a litany of sin bins for high shots and a new 11-day exclusion period for players diagnosed with concussion.

Arrow will test those new rules after running out on his HIA test late in the match on Thursday.

There were no charges from the NRL Match Review Committee following the clash, but the NRL could still investigate after Arrow dobbed himself on Channel Nine after the siren had sounded.

The beaming Rabbitoh spoke with commentator and NSW coach Brad Fittler after the game and admitted to running out on the doctor as Souths completed a memorable win.

Arrow was pretty pleased with himself as he told Brad Fittler how he ran out on the doctor during a mandatory concussion test

‘How many minutes did you get out?’ Fitler asked.

‘Seventy-odd and then I copped a bit of a head knock at 18-10 down when they scored that last try,’ Arrow replied.

‘I come in and heard cheering and then two of our fellas were cheering.

‘So I ran our midway through the HIA and come out and it was 20-18.’

‘Are you allowed to do that? Is that part of the SCAT5 test?’ Fitler asked.

The SCAT5 (Sport Concussion Assessment Tool) is a standardised tool used to evaluate and manage concussions in athletes, developed by the Concussion in Sport Group in 2017.

The SCAT5 includes a range of tests that assess an athlete’s cognitive function, balance, and symptoms. 

Arrow played 70 minutes for the Bunnies but took a head knock trying to tackle a Penrith player with the game on the line

The tests include a symptom evaluation, cognitive assessment, balance examination, and a coordination examination. 

Arrow legged it midway through these assessments.

‘The doc was blowing up at me but I didn’t care at that stage,’ Arrow said.

‘I just wanted to run down the tunnel and celebrate with the boys.

‘It was exciting and just lucky we grabbed the two points.’

Arrow is in his second game back from a hamstring injury and told Fittler the enforced break had given him a lift.

‘I feel good, my gas is pretty good, I got old Freddy fresh legs,’ he said.

‘I’m just trying to get back into a groove with playing week-in, week-out footy.

‘I didn’t know I had the hamstring so it’s just good to see them hanging on by a thread and not going on me this time around.’

Arrow only returned to the NRL last week against the Dolphins (pictured) after a hamstring injury plagued his start to the 2023 season

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo is likely to have a dim view on Arrow’s actions after declaring the code would continue to crackdown on high shots and concussion protocols

The admission is likely to be treated very seriously by the NRL with chief executive Andrew Abdo recently declaring that each incident would be treated on a case-by-case basis.

‘There is no exact science that points to how long it takes a player to recover from a concussion,’ he said.

‘It is all case-by-case and very individual. Our policy needs to take that into account.

‘We don’t want players not reporting concussions for fear of a mild concussion ruling them out for a period that is longer than necessary.’

The NRL also confirmed it would consider looking at technologies such as blood and saliva testing as a tool for diagnosing concussions in the future.