Leeds Rhinos bid an emotional farewell to Rob Burrow

The visit of Leigh Leopards was Leeds’ first home game since Burrow’s death and the wonderful tributes did him full justice, as did their 18-10 win.

Headingley’s famous South Stand began to fill up around two hours before kick-off ahead of the formal tributes to Burrow, which began at 7pm, according to Sky Sports’ live coverage.

Brian Carney, Sky Sports’ lead presenter for Super League coverage, orchestrated the proceedings superbly with Barrie McDermott and Jamie Jones-Buchanan, ex-Leeds players now working as pundits for Sky.

McDermott and Jones-Buchanan remained particularly close to Burrow after their playing days together and supported him following his diagnosis.

So did Danny McGuire, another legendary figure who played alongside Burrow in all eight of Leeds’ Grand Final victories at Old Trafford.

From winning the club’s first major title in 32 years in 2004 to dropping the title in the 2017 Grand Final win over Castleford, Burrow and McGuire have succeeded together.

McDermott, Jones-Buchanan and McGuire were among former team-mates, including Kevin Sinfield, who would regularly visit Burrow at his home in Pontefract following his diagnosis in December 2019.

There may have been dark humor at times, but the camaraderie in the dressing room that brought Leeds to so much success was still there.

Bob Pickles scouted Burrow when he was just 12 years old and was interviewed about discovering a diminutive youngster with a penchant for outrunning opposition defenses with speed and footwork.

As footage of Burrow playing as a child was shown on Headingley’s big screen, Pickles said: “Rob’s dad was a lifelong supporter of Leeds but the most important thing was to convince people Rob was old enough to play rugby league.

“After a few weeks they said ‘he’s a bit special this boy’.

Phil Caplan, a respected Leeds historian and chairman of the club’s heritage committee, called Burrow the greatest scrum-half in Leeds history.

Shortly before kick-off, around 70 of his former teammates lined up arm-in-arm with overseas greats like Danny Buderus and Ali Lauiti’iti who traveled from Australia to be there.

The Sinfield standout, who has raised more than £8 million for MND charities, was not present due to his commitments with the England rugby team during their summer tour.

Sky Sports cameras filmed Lindsey Burrow, the widow of the former Leeds star, herself fighting back tears.