THOUSANDS of people lined the streets of West Yorkshire today to pay their final respects to Rob Burrow.
The Leeds Rhinos legend died aged 41 on June 2 after a lengthy battle with motor neurone disease (MND).
His funeral has been taking place this afternoon.
Members of the public were invited to stand on the road side as the funeral cortege made its way to the private service at Pontefract Crematorium.
A hearse with floral tributes reading 'bro' and 'son' passed through the streets down to the crematorium.
His best friend Kevin Sinfield and other former Leeds Rhinos team-mates were seen arriving.
Rob spent his entire career with Leeds Rhinos and helped them win eight Super League titles.
He retired in 2017 but two years later it was revealed he had been diagnosed with MND.
He subsequently raised millions to help build a new care centre for MND patients alongside Kevin.
After he died, Rob released a final message to the world.
In it, he said: "I want to live in a world free of MND.
"By the time you watch this I will no longer be here.
"I'm just a lad from Yorkshire who got to live out his dream of playing rugby league."
Now his wife Lindsey has revealed dad-of-three Rob also left some private messages for his family to be shared after his death.
He used a machine which tracks eye movements to turn them into text.
"I know Rob has left messages on there for the children," she said.
"At the minute it's too raw to go and look through the machine but there are birthday messages on there, there are messages for the future."
She added: "Despite the grief and despite the sadness, we have so much to be thankful for, for having Rob in our lives.
"He made the world a better place to be."
Lindsey said in a separate tribute after his death: "Although we knew this day would arrive, I am somehow still feeling at a loss for words that our loving, kind, caring husband and father has departed.
"I was incredibly proud and fortunate to call Rob my husband.
"We will continue to keep Rob's legacy alive.
"We will continue to 'bang the drum' and do our best to try and help others.
"We take comfort from how much people's love and continued support meant to Rob through his most vulnerable times.
"He was simply the best."
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