Jai Arrow a Tiger? It could've happened.
The star forward has revealed at the end of the 2019 season he met with Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire.
The former Gold Coast Titan took into consideration the prospects of the Tigers, but ultimately signed up with South Sydney for 2021 and beyond.
Arrow told NRL.com that the Tigers coach made a compelling case for him to be in the gold, black and white.
I don’t have all day to read an article for every player Wests Tigers almost signed
— Simpsons Related NRL Memes (@Simpsons_NRL) April 15, 2021
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"(Maguire) flew up to the Gold Coast and met me there, I definitely was weighing up my options," he said.
"Don't get me wrong, I wasn't counting out any club, I wanted to do the best thing for myself.
"Looking at Madge (Maguire), he's won a comp, he expects the best from you, I think they (Wests Tigers) do have a quality side.
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But ultimately, the decision to be a South Sydney Rabbitoh came on the back of a couple of factors.
"No disrespect to the Tigers, but the proud history of South and obviously Wayne Bennett and the coaching staff here is second-to-none," he said.
"Being back with Wayne and (assistant coach) Jason Demetriou helped... The squad and class of the players here was an attraction."
Both the Rabbitohs and the Tigers are set to lock horns on Saturday evening with South Sydney sitting three games clear of Wests.
Wayne’s reluctance to start Jai Arrow even in light of Keon’s suspension shows how much Souths go-forward relies on Cameron Murray and how Arrow is so critical to maintaining that when he’s off the field. Love the move.
— Tom (@tomhay18) April 6, 2021
But Arrow said that there was no room for his side to get complacent over a Tigers side that have been on the end of some close defeats.
"They've sort of struggled the last couple of weeks... they've scored some points as well, they just haven't been able to get the job done," he said.
"I have no doubt that they'll be out firing."
Prop Patrick Mago added: "We can't take them lightly, I think that's like every other team, whether they're coming first or last - you've got to take every game seriously."
