Leeds Rhinos news as ex-player Paul Gill reveals MND bombshell, hails 'selfless' Kevin Sinfield

Paul Gill, third from left on the front row, celebrates with terammates after captaining Leeds' second team to a trophy success in the 1980s.

Paul Gill, who played for Leeds in the 1980s, two decades before Burrow’s debut, will be guest of honour when Rhinos visit Bradford Bulls for a pre-season derby next month. The former full-back was diagnosed with MND, which is terminal and has no known cure, during the summer.

He has voiced his support for ex-Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield, who raised millions of pounds for MND causes through a gruelling series of long-distance running challenges and admits he is “overwhelmed” by the support he has received from across the rugby league community. “The job Kevin is doing is amazing,” Gill said.

“He is selfless, incredible. Last year I went to support him and cheer him on when he did the leg [of a charity run from Edinburgh to Manchester] from Leeds to Valley Parade. At that time I didn’t know I had MND and it’s freaky; we watched him last year, not knowing we were supporting him supporting me. They don’t seem any nearer a cure now than they were before, but now they are spending millions on research. It is heading in the right direction.”

Kevin Sinfield during the final leg of his '7 in 7 in 7' challenge to raise money and awareness for MND earlier this month. Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com.

Another Leeds legend, Garry Schofield, has spearheaded former teammates’ effort to help Gill, who played 47 first team games for the Loiners and later coached his local club, Clayton, in Bradford, where he lives. Gill said: “The rugby league fraternity have been fantastic and Garry Schofield has been utterly amazing. We did a rugby league evening with Garry when [ex-Leeds players] Dave Heron, Dave Ward, Mark Conway and Dave Creasser all came over to Clayton and we raised £10,400 on one night.

“Garry has been across four or five times and he came [recently] with Dave Heron and Wardy just for a beer. They have supported me to the hilt. That’s rugby league for you, the support I’ve had has given me back my faith in nature.”

Gill insisted he is “doing okay, to be fair” six months on from his diagnosis, which the 65-year-old admitted “dropped on me like a ton of bricks”. He explained: “I have a little saying ‘same is good’. If I am the same as I was yesterday, that’s good. At the moment my voice is still quite strong; I have had to go to the voice bank and they’ve stored things I say, like ‘make us a cup of tea love’! That’s brilliant, but it does worry you because you think ‘when does that [the loss of speech] happen’? You are conscious of all the things you do, your grip, swallowing, eating.”

Gill and his partner have been together for 17 years, but plan to marry in February. He has several holidays booked for 2024 and insisted: “I am absolutely determined to keep going.

Rob Brrow, who was diagnosed with MND four years ago, pictured at Headingley in June. Picture by Ed Sykes/SWpix.com.

“My partner has been absolutely marvellous and we’ve taken the bull by the horns, said let’s go for everything we can - don’t wait for tomorrow, we will have to do it today.

“I can hobble around, do 10 or 20 metres. I rarely use my wheelchair unless I am going somewhere significant or I’m going to have to stand up for any period of time. I have got some crutches, but I don’t use them much. I struggle to get up steps - I get up them, but it’s not very pretty - but I am just trying to keep going as best I can.

“I am being upbeat and positive about it because there’s no point being a recluse and being negative. When you first get the news, people avoid you, but it’s innocent because they don’t know what to say. I try to put them at ease because all I want them to do is treat me as normal.”