Leeds Rhinos coach Brad Arthur says 'we need to be brave' in Rob Burrow MND Awareness fixture v Hull KR

A season’s-best crowd of more than 17,000 is expected for the first versus third Betfred Super League blockbuster, which is Rhinos’ annual motor neurone disease (MND) awareness fixture. It is a huge game on the league table and Leeds boss Brad Arthur has urged his team to come up with a performance befitting the memory of Burrow who died in 2024, five years after being diagnosed with the incurable condition.

Leeds’ players will wear a special kit based on a design by Cath Muir, who is living MND and tributes will be paid to eight-time Grand Final winner Burrow before kick-off of the Sky Sports-televised clash. Representatives from Leeds Hospitals Charity, the MND Association and Rob Burrow Centre for MND will all be present and his children Maya, Macy and Jackson Burrow will deliver the match ball to referee Chris Kendall.

Arthur admitted “there’s going to be a fair bit of emotion” surrounding the fixture and stressed Rhinos’ players are fully aware of why this game is so special. “We’re very respectful of the reasons for what this round is about and we had a bit of a conversation about it on Monday,” Arthur stated.

“We had a little presentation for the guys who didn’t know Rob - some highlights of his game and different things past players and coaches have said about him. Jamie Jones-Buchanan [Rhinos’ chief executive and a former teammate of Burrow] came in and talked a bit about him, so we know what we are playing for.”

Arthur added: “Rob was a very, very brave man and so were his family to go through what they went through, so our performance needs to be nice and brave. We need to be a reflection of Rob on Friday.

“He was brave and we need to be brave. We have had a discussion about it and we know the importance of it, but now we need to turn that into what it looks like with our football actions.”