Former rugby league players Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield have both been made CBEs for services to motor neurone disease (MND) awareness.

Burrow won eight Super League titles with Leeds Rhinos and represented Great Britain and England before he announced he had been diagnosed with MND at the age of 37 in 2019.

Inspired by his former Leeds team-mate, Sinfield this month battled through a gruelling schedule of running seven ultramarathons in as many days in seven different cities around Britain and Ireland.

His latest fundraising challenge to help people living with MND raised more than £1 million.

Elsewhere in rugby league, the RFL’s former CEO Ralph Rimmer received an OBE, in the New Year Honours List.

He was labelled as “an outstanding leader for rugby league” and a “passionate advocate of the sport” by Simon Johnson, the current chairman of the RFL.

The news of Rimmer’s honour was not universally popular, following a number of controversial decisions during his time with the RFL, which included the decision to strip Bradford of their coveted elite academy status in 2021.

After tireless work behind the scenes, Bulls finally had that reinstated partway through the 2023 season.