Matt Gregory and Peter Smith, rugby league expert at the Yorkshire Evening Post, look back at the life of Rugby League legend Rob Burrow.
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00:00 Hello, I'm Matthew Gregory and welcome to a special Shots TV programme dedicated to the life and memory of rugby league legend Rob Burrow,
00:07 who died aged 41 on Sunday following a four and a half year battle with motor neurone disease.
00:12 Joining me to discuss his life and legacy is the Yorkshire Evening Post's rugby league correspondent Peter Smith.
00:17 Peter, what are the first memories that come to mind when you think of Rob?
00:20 Hi Matt. Yeah, just one of the most popular and exciting players I've ever seen play rugby league
00:29 and certainly for the Rhinos. I covered his whole career from his debut for the academy, that's the youth team, in 1999.
00:37 From that very first appearance, it was obviously something special. I remember, I think it was probably his debut,
00:44 a game at St Helens, an academy game at St Helens at their old Nosy Road ground in 1999.
00:50 And the leads team ran out and there was this little kid with them and people in the press box were saying,
00:56 "What's he doing? Who's that?" And it turned out to be Leeds' Scrum Half and he was half the size of the other players in the team.
01:06 And people were thinking, "Well, no, this kid's never going to make it." But he had everything you need to be a top rugby league player.
01:15 He was smart, he had fantastic pace, great footwork, brilliant dedication, he was brave.
01:22 He was just the sort of player that everybody, whether he played for your team, if you played for the opposition team,
01:27 you'd hate him when he was playing against you, but you'd look forward to him playing as well because he just got...
01:32 He was a bums off-seat player. When he got the ball, you knew something was going to happen.
01:37 And he was just so exciting to watch. The fact, I mean, rugby league is a big man's game.
01:47 He, five foot four, had no right to be able to compete with some of these behemoths that he was up against,
01:54 but they hated playing against him because he turned his lack of size into an advantage.
02:00 He'd run at them and they couldn't get close to him. He scored some spectacular tries,
02:06 most famously, of course, in the 2011 Super League Grand Final when Leeds played St Helens.
02:11 He was actually a substitute that day, came off the bench midway through the first half and scored what people reckon to be
02:18 the finest individual try ever seen in a Grand Final, cut through the defence from more or less halfway
02:23 and turned the game in Leeds' favour. And that's something that people will most remember him by.
02:32 He actually won the Man of the Match vote that day as a substitute, unanimously.
02:37 I think there were 50 people, members of the media, voted and he got every single vote.
02:42 And that just tells you something about him. And one thing I'll most remember is just what a nice guy he was.
02:51 I probably interviewed him more than any other journalist, and I would say I probably spoke to him more than any other player
03:00 during his playing career. And he was just so nice. I've honestly never heard anyone say a bad word about Rob ever
03:10 in his time as a player or as a person. Just a fantastic individual from a really nice family.
03:18 And it's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking for everybody who's seen him play, but particularly for his young family.
03:25 He had a wife, he had three very young kids. It's just so sad. But I think the way they've handled his diagnosis,
03:36 which came in 2019 of motor neurone disease, I think that says a lot about him and about the family.
03:41 They didn't go into the shells. They opened up and they said, "Look, this is what this horrible disease is all about.
03:49 We need your support to help fight it." And they've raised, with the help of people like Kevin Sinfield,
03:54 his former teammate and very good friend, they've raised millions. I think I saw somewhere estimated £20 million
04:01 to fight motor neurone disease. There's a new centre, Robborough Centre for Motor Neurone Disease,
04:08 being opened in Leeds. I think the actual building work, sort of the cutting the first turf, is happening today.
04:14 Yeah, certainly at the start of this week, which is strange, really, isn't it? It's such a shame Rob couldn't be there.
04:20 But that'll be his lasting legacy. And there will be a cure. Eventually, smart people will find a cure for this awful disease.
04:30 And I think that'll be Rob's lasting legacy. But for the moment, people just remember what an impish character he was on the field and off it.
04:39 Lovely man. Yeah, it's amazing to see the really heartfelt outpouring of love from so many people,
04:45 from all stations of life, from friends and teammates, right up to Prince William.
04:50 He leaves a dual legacy, doesn't he? Not just as a wonderful player, of course, nearly 500 games for Leeds Rhinos,
04:56 eight Super League championships, two Challenge Cups, won the Harry Sunderland Award for the best player
05:02 in the Super League Grand Final twice. And that award's now going to be remodelled as the Robborough Trophy going forward.
05:08 But as you say, he also leaves a very tangible legacy in terms of raising funds and awareness for motor neurone disease.
05:14 About 5,000 sufferers in the UK. And the new Robborough Centre for Motor Neurone Disease in Leeds will hopefully help a great many people.
05:22 I mean, there really can't be many people who've left such a lasting legacy in two very, very different ways in such a week, can there?
05:29 I think that's absolutely right. I mean, one thing about Rugby League is those of us involved in the game will always say,
05:36 you know, it is a little bit of a niche sport. It's not recognised the way that football, cricket, rugby union would be.
05:44 I mean, I would think five years ago, Rob could have walked down the street in London or Newcastle somewhere
05:52 and people wouldn't have known where he was. But he's sort of attained this national status, really, since his diagnosis.
06:03 And he's just helped so many people through that. I mean, it is such a horrible, debilitating disease.
06:12 I mean, towards the end last time I saw him, he basically couldn't move, couldn't talk.
06:18 It's awful because it affects your body, but it doesn't affect your mind.
06:22 So he was still Rob, but he just couldn't do the things that Rob used to be able to do.
06:27 But he's still won people over with his just force of his personality.
06:32 And I think the fact that everybody around him just loved him so much, I think that's had a bearing on other people
06:40 who've never met him, they've realised, well, this must have been a very special person.
06:44 And he certainly was. One thing about Rugby League is the players are approachable.
06:50 I would think probably most of Rhinos' real fans will have met Rob at some time or another,
06:57 even if it's just bumping into him in the supermarket or something. And he always had time for everybody.
07:04 I remember when he hung up his boots, he went into coaching the academy team.
07:08 I travelled with him on the team bus to a game in Coventry, a pre-season game,
07:12 and one really cold January, I think it was 2018.
07:18 And Rob was late into the changing room to give his final team talk because he was pitch-side watching the warm-up.
07:26 And when he walked back to the changing rooms, everybody wanted a picture with him.
07:30 And being Rob, he didn't say, 'I'm busy, grab me later'. He stopped and had a picture and a word with absolutely everybody.
07:38 So he was sort of late into the changing rooms. But that was just him. He couldn't turn his back on people.
07:46 I also remember a game, he'd lost a game at Wigan in the 2000s.
07:52 And Rob was a very good left-footed goal kicker, but because Kevin Sinfield was in the team,
07:58 he didn't kick goals that regularly. And Kevin must have been off for some reason.
08:02 And in the very last seconds, Leeds had a penalty goal from halfway to either draw it or win it on a Friday night.
08:10 And the kick didn't go over. And he was at an event in York that I attended the following day.
08:17 And there were kids coming up to him and going, 'Ha ha ha, you missed that guy'.
08:22 And he was just lovely with everybody. He'd have a joke with them and say, 'Yeah, yeah, I should have done better'.
08:27 And there was no edge to him or anything, just a really nice bloke who was approachable by everybody.
08:35 And he's going to be so sorely missed. I think he could have had a real legacy to rugby league off the field after his playing career.
08:43 Sadly, that's not going to happen. But he is going to be remembered for a very, very long time. And he deserves to be.
08:50 Yeah, and he's got a reputation for having handled his diagnosis and the impact of MND with such remarkable stoicism and humour.
08:59 I think it's worth bringing in the words of Kevin Sinfield, his former team-mate, as you said, with Rob and others.
09:05 Rugby union legend Doddie Weir and footballer Stephen Derby, who also suffer from MND,
09:09 have done a huge amount of work to raise awareness of the disease and raise enormous amounts of money.
09:13 As you said, his tribute to 'Yesterday was the World' has lost a great man and a wonderful friend to so, so many.
09:18 He fought so bravely until the end and became a beacon of hope and inspiration, not only for the MND community,
09:23 but for all those who saw and heard your story. I would say that you were pound for pound the toughest player I've ever played alongside.
09:28 However, since your diagnosis, you were the toughest and bravest man I've ever met.
09:32 I think that sort of sums him up perfectly, doesn't it? Just as a person, the way he's handled this whole deal for the last four or five years.
09:38 Yeah, you couldn't really add an awful lot to that, could you? That's just exactly who he was.
09:45 He was so tough. You'd have to be, wouldn't you, to play a sport like rugby league? It's not a contact sport, it's a collision sport.
09:52 And he was getting people who were sort of 20 stone running at him and he stood up to them.
09:59 And obviously, they would target him because he's small, but he would never take a backward step.
10:05 Every Leeds fan will remember an incident involving a Hull player, Luaki, at Hull.
10:13 It would have been in the mid 2010s, I think maybe. Luaki was huge.
10:19 It'd be sort of two Rob Burrows. And Rob was, for some reason, Rob got into a scuffle with him and he was, Rob was swinging.
10:26 And Luaki was literally stood like, like, sort of like that, holding him back.
10:30 Rob couldn't hit him like a cartoon, but it just showed how game he was.
10:35 He just wouldn't take a backward step. And people love that sort of thing, don't they?
10:41 They just love to see that. And he was the sort of player that his teammates would, you know, they'd stand up for him.
10:53 Just really well liked, I think, by the opposition as much as by his own team.
11:00 As I say, genuinely, no one ever had a bad word to say about him. He did have some adversity in his career.
11:07 There were times when he got dropped for a spell at Leeds. He wanted to play at Scrum Half, but the coach didn't want to play him there.
11:14 He played him as a hooker or as a substitute. But Rob, you know, stuck at it and came through.
11:22 In the end, his final game was the 2017 Grand Final. So he bowed out at Old Trafford as Leeds won the trophy.
11:28 And that was, that was so fitting.
11:31 That is all we've got time for. All that remains is me to thank Peter for sharing his memories, our producer, Chris Hedges,
11:36 and of course, to all of you for watching and to extend our heartfelt condolences and best wishes to Rob's family and many, many friends.
11:43 Goodbye.
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