A friend and former teammate of Rob Burrow said there is “still plenty of work we have got to do for the MND community” ahead of a charity fixture in his memory.
Ryan Hall was given a tour of the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease, based at Seacroft Hospital, on Monday.
It comes as the Rhinos prepare to host their annual MND Awareness game in memory of Burrow, who died with the disease in 2024 aged 41.
“Even though Rob has passed and the centre is up and running it doesn’t mean the job is over,” said Hall, who was a teammate of Burrow’s from 2007 to 2017.
“There’s still plenty of work we have got to do for the MND community,” he added.
Rhinos, who currently sit top of Super League, will pay tribute to Burrow when they host Hall’s former club Hull KR at Headlingley Stadium on 26 June.
The hosts will wear a specially designed shirt for the clash featuring a blue cornflower, which the club said had “become a symbol of MND because of its fragile appearance but hardy nature”.
The shirt was designed by Cath Muir, an artist living with MND, with £10 from each sale going towards the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease, which opened in November.
For Hall, whose mother-in-law worked as an MND nurse at Leeds General Infirmary, visiting the centre was a bittersweet experience.
‘Special bond’
“It’s not a great reason why his name is being used but it’s used in the best way possible because everyone knows a bit more about MND now,” he said.
Hall and Burrow were Rhinos teammates for a decade until the latter retired in 2017.
Hall recalled the “little things” Burrow did for younger members of the team – like covering the cost of a coffee after training for those not earning a senior salary – which “showed what sort of bloke he was”.
“Them little things translate onto the pitch,” said Hall, now 38 and in his second spell with the club.
“When you go through some highs and lows in your rugby career you create a special bond. The rugby doesn’t finish on the rugby field, you create friends for life.”
Hall added: “Kev [Sinfield] has been doing what he’s been doing and we have been doing what we have been doing because it’s the right thing to do for a mate.”
He reserved praise for Sinfield, another former teammate, who last week received a knighthood in the King’s Birthday Honours.
Sinfield has raised more than £11m to aid research and support families affected by MNDisease since Burrow’s diagnosis with the incurable condition in 2019.
“It couldn’t go towards a better bloke,” said Hall.
“I speak for all the Rhinos that we are so proud of him for doing everything he has done.”
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
