One of the most decorated players in Super League history! | Rob Burrow: The Magnificent 7

[Music] [Applause] unstoppable [Music] [Applause] a winner relentless inspirational idol magic aero is all rule-changing [Music] robert jeffrey burrow is a rugby league legend eight-time grand final winner three-time world club challenge winner and he's lifted the challenge cup twice he's one of the most successful players of his generation rob now faces his toughest battle as he fights motor neuron disease this is the story of his career i was 14 and he was 12 and the smallest guy by a mile but the fastest thing he'd ever seen very very quiet at that time but as we started to come through together when rob started 16 17 i was 18 and 19 you start to forge a really good friendship our careers you know mirrored each other it was so strange how it panned out um i played at east leeds we played against castleford panthers at the time and you know i remember this little genius running around we ended up representing yorkshire that year together what i remember is i i was small as well robert obviously you know really small and i remember standing next to him in the team fought up and being proud that i was actually bigger than somebody one of the first times i actually saw him was that his first ever game against men leads rhinos reserve team versus saint ellens and saint helens had a giant plane for them wayne macdonald who actually played for leads rana's as well but wayne would be six foot seven and probably about 18 and a half stone rob hit him just right picked him up and dropped him and i thought well he's got a chance robert's there was big rubbish shirts on you know chinese tennis guy there but i just think he's going to make it as a no because he was that small you knew he was uh very very talented i just couldn't see him making a career of such a brutal tough sport in rugby league and thankfully he made meet me words despite his size rob made his lead rhinos debut in april of 2001 against full fc he was ready to make his mark on super league boro has got the possession borrow still oh fabulous this kid is all talent 18 years of age we've been on the other end of it in training it was only a matter of time before he was going to transfer that into games something quite remarkable civic couldn't do anything about it darrell paul smiled done well as a player he'd do anything that you asked him to do his skill set was fantastic and and the thing that you can't coach he had in abundance which is pure speed you could say that size was never going to be an issue for him because he was such a brave human being and um he put his body on the line but when he put his foot on the pedal there was nobody even close to him in terms of what he could do on a rugby field i remember alan allen hunt just took a step in and i followed him because i didn't want to leave that gap i should have just left that gap you know rob moved from there to the in the blink of a second and i had no chance you'd heard the name floating about the game you know and this this small player from leeds you know that was all that you heard about his size the first thing anybody spoke about was his size but it was special you scored a hat-trick in that particular match yeah well it all gets forgotten about all people talked about with rob burrow you had this tiny weenie little kid i gotta admit when i saw him run out for the first time i was i was worried for him and then probably 10 minutes into the game i was worried for us i always remember him from being a real small pocket rocket and dangerous player that we're always on the radar to do bigger and better things awful to play against certainly as a defender give me a 17 stone prop in a day it was in an era where there were danny mcgraw rob barrow richie milo's quite a few young kids matt biscuit all these these these young academy kids bursting onto the scene and then you've got this little five foot five big nosed streak ahead little kid coming all of a sudden to to play their first team at league rhinos when they were training and watching his ability in training it was it was mesmerizing at times rob was super league young player of the year that season he kicked on from there and established himself as a key part of the team bidding to end 32 years without a championship i admired him he'd not long been on the scene but he was electrifying but i also understood that he needed to develop and learn more about the game as well but knew he'd be a fantastic weapon as much as anything i think certainly rob's earliest years were pretty influential and i think a lot of that is because he was so different to what people are used to defending redefine this rugby paradigm of what players should look like and how half back should play he was one of the hearts of the team i just think he's one of the leaders he take the ball in without even asking him and he'd tackle anyone to win the first championship for 32 years for the club was really special and rob was a massive part of that year we had saw so many young hungry players with all experience really lots of highs with the academy would all play together we all understood each other's strengths and i suppose weaknesses as well there was some disbelief that we were actually there and managed to do it but having said that tony smith daryl paul before him instilled a belief in the young players that we were good enough to go and do it and that first one it just lit a spark in all our bellies rob then became a world champion in 2005 scoring against the canterbury bulldogs at ellen road more silverware eluded leads until 2007 when this improving side really kicked into life deservedly winning the man of the match award here the 2008 [Applause] [Music] [Applause] amongst the group and a thirst to be successful having achieved some success and brought it back to the club and they got to taste for it uh and you know with some terrific battles especially against saint ellens came out on top in in a lot of major matches that was my last year as ron as coach and we just won the grand final in 2007 and that was kind of when rob wasn't just electric and and dangerous he was starting to run his team with more maturity and understanding and more about how the game all pieces together in in his role within that as a half back as a general if you like and he was growing into that at that stage he was great to play with um it's great to have in your team um you knew at times in in big games if you needed something special we had a number of players who could come up with stuff but rob always always seems to deliver i've spent 10 years at bradford and you moved to bit bit rich rivals and people you know start a bit standoffish from you but rob never was rob never was that way with me i think that's one of rob's great character traits is his ability to welcome anybody with it within a team and treat everybody as the same he was exceptionally good at bringing young players in into the into the team and bringing them in and making them feel welcome you know having a bit of a laugh with them so they felt like they were part of the group and i think that's a key part of having a winning team four-time super league champion rob had forged his reputation as one of the game's top halfbacks but a new coach had made a big decision regarding rob's career i asked him in my early career as head coach to uh to change position he'd been a regular starting halfback you know for a number of years not all the time you know him danny mcguire and kevin sinfield sometimes played six and seven i said at the outset he's going to vary your role sometimes you'll come off the bench sometimes you'll start sometimes you'll play seven sometimes you'll play nine he won't happen trust me he won't happy about that really wasn't happy with it and we had a couple of meetings a number of meetings i would say over my time there is a coach he says i just want to get clarity on on what you're asking me to do and more importantly why why can't i play offback so i gave my reasoning and gave me rational we we got some clarity and certainly had an understanding of it he'd never agreed with it though and didn't like it ever which i don't have a problem with and you know i want to be really clear that when i say that that's not that's not me saying and he should have done i i knew it was i knew what i was asking him to do was such an impact on his career his role his time at leaked so he would let me know what he think what he thought and didn't hold back i sometimes went back at him probably not my best moments in coaching sometimes but we left the office and he gave me a nod and i gave him a nod and i'd like to think while we disagreed vehemently on some things there was due respect that he actually once said to me well look if i go out and do this really well that's only going to strengthen your argument isn't it i thought yeah yeah exactly you could understand and especially certainly the modern day player you can understand if there would be a wanted to be a bit excellent and a bit self-centered of itself absorbed and thought well i'm not doing it but he didn't he went out and did exactly what the team needed without him i don't know if we would do what we did certainly the role that he played was massive we spoke about it and i i think i i felt a little bit guilty a little bit because obviously i was playing seven and kev was playing six but we were all really good friends he never got into an issue i think it's tough for any player do you know when when sort your role changes and i suppose the game changed a little bit the dynamics of our team changed a little bit and it meant at times that people had to perform roles that they perhaps didn't want to do i think credit to both of them they just got on with it and did the best that they could for the team it's an interesting one you know i feel a bit privileged actually because i'm not sure how many people saw that side of rob in a weird a more selfish kind of way of looking from my point of view [Applause] [Music] [Applause] a magnificent playoff performance from rob steered leads back to the grand final in 2011. i remember trying to organise a play i know robert um he'd just come on and i was trying to organise a player to get me the ball and he just took off i remember it like it was yesterday i was actually i wanted the ball from him and i'm demanding this ball rob give me the ball get us the ball out here and he gets the ball and he takes off himself and i'm like no give me oh there and then it's just like wow wow [Applause] tried to forget everything i can it's one of those it's just over nine years ago and uh i've never really spoke about it so for me this is a bit like therapy i got caught in possibly from a full box point of view one of the worst positions you can get partying in terms of rob ducks under a tackle he was directly in front of me but him being as quick as he was and being able to change direction without losing speed made it such a difficult task and it was almost on the night as if it blinked and he was passing him you're running back and you're like oh no please tackling someone tackling it was so light on his feet and he's just he's got that where you can just turn on the instant if you know what i mean so he was gone i think it will stand the test of time it'll always be looked upon as such a great moment what rob is able to do he's ducking he's weaving he's diving he's he's making some outstanding center-long defenders look ordinary you're just so elusive so nippy so fast individual magical brilliance uh epitomised rob as an individual player i remember it rob just running and then running and then running and then keep going and all of a sudden he scored it was just just incredible it's mind blowing probably one of the best fallbacks in the game of paul wellings and gotta mesmerize and try it underneath the post you know i think i'll taking fours at the back because i was that tired like um what's it called b-beep you know roadrunner road running i think he was like that just needed something special from somebody and roberto came up with it and that's probably the best try there's ever been in in a major final the best individual tried i had quite a good understanding i knew when he was going to run i could see in his eyes but i missed the beat a little bit and i tried to catch him and he went off and i had no chance because obviously he was so quick but you know i was the first there to to congratulate him and i think there's a bit where i sort of slow him down and so i'll hug him and get dead close and that's one of the you know the best moments for me just the best try ever in a grand final if that's a version of sticking two fingers up to me i don't mind it to go out and do that you just don't get the ball in your hands like that luckily you know you don't have the intention robert often said you know i don't know what i'm doing it just it just happened i think he's being a bit uh he's been a bit clever though he thought well give me the ball because i need to go do something and that's what good players do going into that grand final with assault if you just don't do that you just stop step up to the players i think probably every person in the stadium would have voted for robber or foreign to do that in a grand final is special there's not many players that can produce them magical moments in in the heat of the battle in a grand final all 37 judges bought to grab the man of the match that night another world club challenge followed before leeds won the title again in 2012 but some of the best moments of rob's career was still to come it wasn't the biggest player we've ever seen in super league but talk about heart and determination and what a great example to any youngster out there that it's not a matter of your size it's the hard work that you put in in the training ground and there's none better to show that ability and the wonderful skill of robert as i can testify rob burrow was as sharp off the pitch as he was on it as we've been finding out from his former teammates a little pissed kylie was his number one used to bully me all the time i threw in some paper clipping puncher clippings into my car you know the heater so the vents that come out and he turned on full blast when i got in the car i didn't know you know i don't know what's happening turn turned on and just been all over the country i remember kylie getting robbing a sleeper old at one time he's squeezing pretty hard and bob was just like is it being serious here is it seriously he had three fights in his career so he always says that he's three and all if you've ever seen them fights they're not really fights because he couldn't fight the walking one is just a comedy gold in itself it's like scooby and scrappy dude you show people that clip it kind of encapsulates what what rob's about he's not going to take a backwards step for anybody everything the kid says is either a court or a one-liner or something to do with what he's seen on tv i must have heard about a million ricky gervais quotes we kicked off a special relationship because we realised that we both were mad office fans mad ricky gervais fans extras fans that started a dialect a specific dialect for me and rob for what would be the the rest of our careers together i had a pair of white calvin kleins and i'd gone for a massage getting ready for prepared for a game and i could see as i walked back into the change rooms i could see a brown stain in my white calvin klein's onshore and i was like i'm sure that one there before i left ran as quick as i could to try and hide him all the boys are laughing hysterical on the floor he'd actually put a jaffa cake in you know he's here barely gene is not my lover and that was it he'd love michael jackson anyone shared michael jackson anywhere that you know rob was there when brian mcclellan was our coach he came up with a move where the ball gets held in the back of the scrum by the loose forward on the shout the scrum breaks the loose forward picks up and darts straight through the middle now it's probably worked once in a thousand times and we're going to put rob at the base of the scrum because he was that quick so we practiced this a couple of times in training i can remember blue age bryan mclennan says right we need a name for it which we call it and rob said nhs because that's where i'm going to end up with this carries on i kind of got my own back on robin there for a few a few other boys you always do promotions as part of playing rugby and the promotions come down from the community department what they do they give you a blue sheet i got hold of this template from the community office rob come down he said to me he says i can't believe it i said well what's up mate he goes it's this promotion is right all right you know we do some stupid ones at the club what is it i've gotta go arroga to the garden festival to sit on the panel of a norm judging contest so i've gone all right rob well i i guess you'll probably enjoy that maybe a reason why you picked you there pal i think rob because he was that cheeky fella who everybody expected to get the abuse from just got away with it could have as much abuse as he wanted by 2014 robin leads his golden generation had six super league titles to their names but one trophy still eluded them kind of giving up on the challenge cup if i'm honest with you we lost to wigan warrington over that period there and it was like it's just not gonna happen because rob's hometown cass doing a hatred for cass as well every time we played and we wanted to beat cass he wanted to stuff cass he'd always make a joke and have a laugh when we always played cass he was like you know this is my hometown you know we want to go and beat cass and do a good job on him and part of that because he lived there he lived in the town and he wanted to be able to walk around without getting any grief my belief is why we won it is because brian matt came up with a game plan a simple one where everyone committed to it everyone knew what it was and rob played a great role in that part of that game plan was we were going to consistently kick one side of the field and rob consistently did that and every player bought into the game plan that day nobody put themselves before the side challenge cup in the back the full set of medals complete but something even more special followed in 2015. [Applause] and the perfect end to a season of all seasons i changed some things dramatically for that 2015. certainly in pre-season uh and got all the old guys to do more than they ever had it took a bit of convincing and it took a lot of creaking bodies and aching backs rob played in a number of different positions for us that year but again was immense got on with his job did it to the best of his ability and scared people to death which is what we were great at so we couldn't have asked for a better ending there's probably six or seven main players and if you take any one of those out then i think we lose a couple of trophy wins within that and i think rob's the same as well and i think rob contributed to all those wins throughout the past 14 or 15 years and it was an integral crucial part of that dynasty of the golden generation the treble winning team was was a group of players that just without compromise they just went for for every game went for every every bit of trophy that they wanted to rob was was like he's that that bit of special a little bit of game changer that bit of crucial ability and flair that that we needed in that year you start to learn the traits of the players that you're playing with um rob was someone who i i really did the did follow about on the pitch there could be nothing out on the pitch there and out 70 meters can just do a dash and there's plenty of times where he's done a 70 meter run you know i've just supported him and he's popping put away for me one under the underneath the sticks 2015 team i believe if we had to stay together for the next two years 16 and 17 we were still to take we're taking every trophy up rob put me through the gaps and put me in for a few tries he just knew that he was always going to come would have crossed the pitch and got us in plenty of space but it buzzing around everywhere and causing problems for for every team we had a team full of big game players and myself and carl ableto and some of those more industrious players delaney's just worked really hard to make sure we were still in game for that moment when we needed rob burrow to come up with something special there was a lot of that of everybody's experience coming together everybody's stories really coming together to create the ultimate year the golden generation began to break up leeds battled relegation in 2016 and rob announced his retirement in 2017. his last game for leeds along with his partner in crime danny mcguire was another grand final this time against his hometown club casper tigers when iconic players legendary players come to end of a journey we make a big fuss about them but it would never come from them leading into the playoff system and and maxie and rob's final games that was absolutely the thing of the players you know they all wanted to send those two guys out want to win for sure that year was huge because the year before wasn't wasn't great set us up really for a huge season in 17 and also they announced that it was going to be their last so that had that extra incentive as well for all the boys to put some wrongs right they were key in terms of their their leadership just pushing us that extra a little bit more we're just so glad that we sent them off on a fantastic end the to their time at lead the kick underneath the left another knockoff oh it could be a driver and danny mcguire fittingly will take the trophy the rhinos are the super league champions again really really lucky guy i've loved every minute of my career and tonight's a fairytale ending for me i'd sort of had this plan in my head you know i'm a big thinker and i thought how good would it be for myself and rob to be able to lift the trophy together and i've not mentioned anything to rob because obviously we were heavy underdogs that day obviously the game went brilliant we ended up winning and can see rob's face now when when i asked him to lift the trophy together that was first thing i thought of when the final whistle was to find rob and tell him we're to lift this trophy together and i nearly dropped it i think i tried to hold it one handed and it kept falling back towards me and to be able to finish our careers from 11 years old and finish lifting the trophy there together was my best moment without a doubt underdog i'd have prob sort of treasures with 13 major medals in his cabinet rob burrow retired as an icon of the sport but in december 2019 rob was diagnosed with mortar neuron disease a degenerative condition that affects the function of the nerves in the brain and the spinal cord there is no cure but he's tackled it head on like an 18 stone prop forward on the pitch how we handled it how we planned to attack what was going to be the next couple of years for him the journey he was going to go on was massively inspiring you look at the way rob's battling things and i think it just puts a lot of things into perspective for you i mean he really is fighting about he really is inspirational and i just think the way he's taking it on there's been no self-pity there's been just total dignity it's been dignified the way him and his family have reacted to it rugby league supporters from near and far gather to offer their encouragement and friendship to one of sports genuine gentlemen rob burrow enters the field hero of headingley what a man they've come here to see your dad and you know your dad's a very special man don't you yes it's like that moment end of titanic when all the family just comes rushing back and we're all experiencing what was a really special period in our in our lives and seeing those names lined up in gold and come back in that team spirit and camaraderie for rob was the most special moment of my career i just had an operation on my nose and i was a bit like and i rang the surgeon i said can i play and he's like well if you get a knock on it you're gonna have to have another operation and it was the worst pain i've ever had in my life and i was like i've never thought about an author and played there's no chance nothing's going to stop me not playing in this game he's been as inspiring a person as i've seen anywhere probably the toughest man who's played rugby if i take him to war with me heart of gold i think he should be a statue outside the club for him there was a player that was admired by all rugby league fans they basically put a six foot sick person in a five foot three body the person that cared and the person that you could always have a laugh with even though we've had his battles on the field i wish him nothing but the best will always be a good friend of mine and on the same time and stuff like that i hold it quite dearly truly it's humbling to see him go through this fight and he knows we're all there behind him one of the greats of the super league era he's meant that much to so many people what a tough man we're an incredibly brave guy that is because he's my half pack partner i had that duty of care to him to to make sure that he was it was looked after probably spent more time with with rob throughout my life than i have with probably my wife a really good teammate and friend i can see their hand on heart and say this isn't just because of rob's illness that we're saying some of these things this is just belief i love him i love him without rob's enthusiasm without his courage that selflessness his sense humour i'm not sure that we'd have had all the ingredients and the minerals that we would have needed to be as successful as we were i'm proud to be his teammate i'm privileged to be his friend rob burrow is a ruby league giant

Channel: Sky Sports

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Keywords: sky sports, skysports, Sky Sports live, Sky, Sports, stream, Rob Burrow: The Magnificent 7, Sky Sports Documentary, super league highlights, super league grand final 2020, rugby leage highlights, sky sports rugby league, rob burrow documentary, rob burrow interview, rob burrow, wigan vs St Helens, wigan warriors vs st helens, wigan warriors highlights, st helens highlights

Id: eWYx4sS1YTY

Length: 25min 34sec (1534 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 27 2020