Rob Burrow and his Leeds Rhinos battles with Bradford Bulls

The 41-year-old’s brave fight captured the hearts of a nation, as did his incredibly supportive and caring wife Lindsey, his three precocious kids and his best mate, Kevin Sinfield.

Many people only came across Rob due to his battle with the evil and incurable Motor Neurone Disease, the same illness that much-loved former Bantams captain Stephen Darby has been suffering with since 2018.

But as many rugby league fans will tell you, the little scrum half was an icon even before he came to the attention of the wider world.

Rob won eight Super League titles with Leeds, as well as three World Club Challenges and two Challenge Cups, and was instrumental to his club’s extraordinary success between 2004 and 2017.

Rob celebrates Leeds' win over Castleford in the 2017 Super League Grand Final, the last game of his professional career. (Image: PA.)

It is no coincidence that the Rhinos’ star started to fade when he retired seven years ago, with just a single Challenge Cup to their name since.

In Rob’s early years in a Leeds shirt, Bradford were arguably the dominant force in British rugby league, but the half back was instrumental in turning the tide, as Rhinos became the top dogs in West Yorkshire.

But some of his most memorable battles still took place against the Bulls, and we thought we’d take a look back at some of those, as we remember Rob, the player.

LEEDS 16 BRADFORD 8 (2004 Super League Grand Final)

Rob was probably a bit sick of Bulls by the end of 2003.

He had started in the play-off semi-final at Odsal that year, but seen his team well beaten 30-14, as Bradford went on to down Wigan in the final to seal a sensational treble.

The first leg of that treble arrived back in the April, in a thrilling Challenge Cup final in Cardiff.

But it was a rubbish day for Rob, who started on the interchange bench, went off with concussion in a physical match, and he probably remembers little of his side’s 22-20 defeat.

Yet the tide started to turn in Rhinos’ favour from the following year onwards.

Remarkably, given the run that followed, Leeds had yet to claim a Super league title by 2004, but they romped to the League Leaders’ Shield that season, losing just twice under Tony Smith and finishing a whopping nine points clear of runners-up Bradford.

But the Bulls floored them 26-12 at Headingley in the play-off semis, meaning Leeds had to take their second chance against Wigan in the elimination final.

They did just that, winning 40-12, and Rob and his team-mates gained sweet revenge on Bradford at Old Trafford, beating them 16-8 in the Grand Final.

October 16, 2004, was the day a legacy began.

LEEDS 42 BRADFORD 38 (Millennium Magic 2007)

The path to success is rarely smooth, and 2005 was a gut-wrenching year for Leeds and Burrow, despite the scrum half being named in Super League’s Dream Team for the first time in his career.

The Rhinos suffered a shock 25-24 Challenge Cup final loss to John Kear’s Hull FC side in Cardiff that August, before losing the Super League Grand Final to Bradford two months later.

League leaders St Helens and Leeds finished miles clear of the pack, so when the latter won 19-16 at Knowsley Road in the qualifying semi-final, Rob and his team-mates looked favourites to claim a second successive title at Old Trafford.

But third-placed finishers Bulls triumphed 15-6 in Manchester, despite the Rhinos fielding arguably Super League’s greatest-ever half-back pairing, Rob and Danny McGuire, in a Grand Final from the start for the very first time.

Little did anyone know at the time, but that was to be Bradford’s final Super League crown.

Bradford Bulls downed Rob Burrow and his Leeds team-mates in the 2005 Grand Final, but that was the last of their four Super League titles to date. (Image: PA.)

Yet their descent into mediocrity was still a few years away, and they were a legitimate force in 2007.

This was shown in a remarkable Millennium Magic match that May, a precursor to Magic Weekend.

Rob scampered over for a typical try of his, as Leeds fought back from 26-18 down to win a thriller 42-38, with a controversial last-gasp score from Jordan Tansey that had more than a whiff of offside about it.

The following month, Bradford gained a semblance of revenge, wing wizard Lesley Vainikolo scoring his final try for the club in a superb 38-14 victory at Headingley.

But having finished third, Bulls caved in in their elimination play-off against Wigan at Odsal, blowing a 30-6 lead with 25 minutes to go to lose 31-30.

Wigan made it all the way to the elimination final, before they were beaten 36-6 by a Rhinos side who had lost their qualifying semi to league leaders Saints a week earlier.

And Rhinos saved their best for last at Old Trafford, demolishing a stunned St Helens side 33-6, with Rob pulling the strings.

Rounding off a masterful performance in the halves with a cheeky drop goal, Rob added to his Dream Team and Rhinos Player of the Season awards by claiming the prestigious Harry Sunderland Trophy for his man of the match display in Manchester.

Fittingly, for the first time this year, the trophy will now be named after Rob himself.

LEEDS 32 BRADFORD 28 (Millennium Magic 2011)

Millennium Magic was the curtain-raiser for the league season in 2011, and after a couple of years in the doldrums, Bulls showed signs they were back on opening weekend.

A young Elliott Whitehead claimed a brilliant hat-trick and with Patrick Ah Van imperious from the kicking tee, Bradford led 28-10 after 53 minutes in Cardiff.

Ah Van was arguably lucky to still be on the pitch after a dreadful high tackle on Rob in the first half, but the scrum half recovered sufficiently to play an instrumental role in Leeds’ second try of the day, switching the direction of attack to allow Keith Senior and Ryan Hall to combine for a score.

That helped to ensure Rhinos only trailed 16-10 at the break, but scores from Matt Diskin and Whitehead early in the second half looked to have put Bradford out of sight.

Not so, as Leeds roared back, and when Rob jinked and dummied his way past a couple of would-be tacklers to cross the whitewash for a score converted by Sinfield, off the back of tries for Ben Jones-Bishop and Kylie Leuluai, the Rhinos only trailed by two.

And it was Sinfield who rounded off the comeback, after the inspired Jones-Bishop chipped the ball down the touchline, kicked it on again and forced Gareth Raynor to bring him down for a penalty try.

That put Leeds into the lead in the final moments, with Sinfield converting to ensure there was no coming back for Bradford.

Bulls never really recovered from that opening-day heartbreak, winning just nine league games all season to finish a miserable 10th in the 14-team top-flight.

Yet Leeds were not exactly rampant after that success in Cardiff, and after coming fifth in the regular season, they had to go the long way round in the play-offs.

After an easy victory over Hull FC at Headingley, Leeds won at both Huddersfield, and more impressively, league leaders Warrington, to reach the Grand Final, the first team ever to do that after finishing outside of the top three in the regular season.

The 26-24 triumph over Wire in the semis was a gripping encounter, with Rob looking like being the hero after assisting Hall for a try, then scoring himself to put Leeds in front.

Warrington levelled the game at 24-24 with 10 minutes to go, before both sides had late tries disallowed, Leeds’ due to a slight knock on from Rob.

But Sinfield has always had his mate’s back, and he landed a last-gasp penalty to send Rhinos to Old Trafford to face St Helens.

Yet Rob was the indisputable hero in Manchester itself, scoring what many consider to be the greatest-ever try in a Grand Final, jinking through from halfway and leaving the Saints defence at sixes and sevens on his way to a remarkable solo score.

Rob Burrow finishes off THAT try against St Helens at Old Trafford in 2011. (Image: PA.)

With 10 minutes to go, the game was there for either side, locked at 16-16, but it was Rob’s day, as he produced another incredible run to set up a try for Hall in the corner.

Leeds romped to a 32-16 win thereafter, with Rob becoming just the third player in history to win the Harry Sunderland Trophy for the second time, after Widnes’ Alan Tait and Wigan’s Andy Farrell.

Remarkably, Rob picked up 100 per cent of the vote for the award in that Grand Final, the first time that had ever happened.

LEEDS 34 BRADFORD 10 (Rob and Jamie Jones-Buchanan testimonial 2020)

Cruelly, just two years after retiring and bidding farewell with an eighth Super League title, Rob was diagnosed with MND, revealing that shocking news to the public in December 2019.

It stopped his fledgling coaching career at Rhinos in its tracks, and all of a sudden left him facing a battle he could never have expected.

But on a poignant, yet beautiful afternoon at Headingley in January 2020, Rob enjoyed one last dance, making a cameo appearance in Leeds’ 34-10 friendly win over Bulls, which acted as a pre-season friendly for the two first teams, as well as a joint-testimonial for the little scrum half and another Rhinos stalwart, Jamie Jones-Buchanan.

The stadium was packed out, with this reporter one of nearly 20,000 people in attendance.

Coming on with five minutes ago to play alongside his team-mates from the glory days, Sinfield, McGuire and Leuluai among others, Rob was given a standing ovation.

A montage of his career was played afterwards, while a sheepish Rob, “really not one for the limelight” in his own words, delivered a heartfelt speech at full-time, with not a dry eye in the house.

Four-and-a-half years later, Rob’s legacy has since extended far beyond rugby league.

Kevin Sinfield with his best mate at last year's Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon. (Image: PA.)

Poignantly, the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease, which is being built at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds, has its groundbreaking today.

It is a fitting tribute to the great man, who has worked tirelessly to help push the dreadful disease into the public eye, as scientists and doctors do all they can to work on treatments for it, and perhaps one day, a cure.

Rob may now sadly be gone, but for millions of people, he will never, ever be forgotten.