KEVIN SINFIELD is ready to take his fight for those living with motor neurone disease worldwide.
The rugby league legend, now England RU’s skills and kicking coach, heads out on the road on Monday for his sixth physical challenge in the name of former Leeds Rhinos team-mate and pal Rob Burrow.
He will add to the eight-figure sum he has already raised for, plus awareness of, charities helping those diagnosed with the cruel, fatal condition.
7 in 7: Together will see Sinfield and his team run about 200 miles as they go through seven ultra marathons in seven days.
But he has revealed his hopes of banging the drum on the other side of the world after his feats became known in Australia.
He said: “It would be great to do something in Australia at some point.
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“Clearly, I’m due to be out there for the Rugby World Cup in two years and it’d be great to combine forces on something, whether it be a dinner or a run or something where we can raise funds for MND in Australia and be a part of that.
“I know there’s a lot of communication between different nations, but probably more from Australia than anywhere else.
“There’s a big symposium in San Diego from December 5-7, but certainly with Australia and the NRL, they’re fully aware.
“And when we finished challenge three at the Rugby League World Cup final in 2022, Australia’s coach Mal Meninga stopped and had a chat with us about what was going on.
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“They’re fully aware of it.”
Sinfield and his team begin challenge number six of seven at Bury St Edmunds before running to Ipswich to honour former footballer Marcus Stewart, who is living with MND.
They will also go to Cork, Swansea, Sheffield, Cumbria and Dundee before ending running from York to Leeds, finishing at the Headingley stadium where he and Burrow are icons.
And when he crosses the line, which he will, there will be one overriding emotion after ‘wife’ Darrel Rogers helps him through.
The 45-year-old, who insists he is fully fit this year, added: “I room with Darrel and he’s been by my side right from the very start of this.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to have Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny, Paul Scholes, Stuart Broad, so many inspirational sports people join us at different points.
“However, it’s those that are part of the team that know me the best that are able to provide the funniest moments and the most caring moments for me because they’re the people I’m with 24-7 for that week.
“At 5am every day, Darrel’s making me a cup of coffee and he becomes my wife for the week if you like.
“He looks after me and he makes sure everything I need is there, but the whole team is the best I’ve been a part of.
“And when I finish, the biggest feeling is normally relief because I don’t want to let anybody down.
“Then happiness, feeling happy that we’ve been able to pull the MND community together again and provide some hope and understanding that an amount of money has been raised that we hand over to the charities to say, please work together and do your best to find a cure.
“But also do your best to look after families who are living with MND now.”
As well as Stewart’s family, those of Burrow – who passed away last June – and England RU World Cup winner Lewis Moody are living with it now.
Thousands of others away from the public eye are too and hearing of those drives Sinfield on.
He continued: “There are six people diagnosed every single day in the UK.
“So for every Lewis Moody, or Doddie Weir, or Marcus Stewart – I could keep reeling names off, Syd Lawrence – there are tens, hundreds and thousands of others across the year.
“The fact it’s another high-profile sports person, one of our World Cup winners from 2003, sends shudders down everybody’s spine and is a stark reminder that we’ve got to keep going, all of us together, and keep fighting.
“We’ve got to keep trying to raise money so that people who are a lot smarter than me can find a cure because this can’t continue.
“It has to change. We have to change the landscape for MND families.”
