Rabbitohs legend Nathan Merritt on life support

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Former South Sydney winger Nathan Merritt is fighting for his life at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.

Merritt, one of the club’s greatest try-scorers, was admitted to the hospital in Camperdown on Friday and is in a serious condition on life support. The Rabbitohs and RPA declined to comment out of respect for the 40-year-old’s privacy.

However, sources have told this masthead, on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, that Merritt had an adverse reaction to prescribed pain medication. He was taken to hospital after being found unresponsive on Friday.

Friends and family have been made aware of his condition.

Merritt scored 154 tries in 237 NRL appearances during a career spent predominantly at South Sydney. His total of 151 tries at Souths puts him behind only Alex Johnston (187) and Benny Wearing (168) as the most scored for the foundation club.

The former NSW Origin representative topped the NRL’s try-scoring list twice. Remarkably, one of those occasions, in 2006, occurred when the Rabbitohs earned the wooden spoon.

Former South Sydney winger Nathan Merritt.Credit: SMH

He is fourth on the list of most capped Rabbitohs and has also represented the Blues, the Prime Minister’s XIII, City Origin and the Indigenous All Stars.

Only last weekend, he participated in a Koori Knockout tournament.

Souths were also rocked by the death of premiership-winning forward Kyle Turner, at the age of just 31, in August.

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