Talk to anyone about legendary former Leeds Rhinos captain Kevin Sinfield and the soundbites are always the same. “Model professional… a picture of dedication… has done amazing things for Rob Burrow and the MND community… what’s his next move?”
Well, as the Rugby Football Union continue to haggle with Leicester Tigers over compensation for head coach Steve Borthwick, Sinfield’s future is also being hotly debated. Speculation is intensifying that 42-year-old ‘Sir Kev’ will quit as Leicester’s defence coach to join Borthwick at England with the 2023 World Cup in France just nine months away.
Sinfield has also been touted as a potential successor to Borthwick in the top job at Leicester, the club he left Leeds for last year before immediately helping to win the Gallagher Premiership title.
Read more: Leeds Rhinos hooker Kruise Leeming reveals close bond with rugby legend immortal
Barrie McDermott, Sinfield’s close friend and ex-Headingley team-mate, told Leeds Live: “I’ve absolutely no doubt that whichever position Kev settles on, he will be successful at.
“With a World Cup on the horizon, you can see the lure taking up a coaching position with England. But any organisation – union, league or otherwise – would be clambering over themselves to secure somebody like Kev because there’s an aura about him.
“The bigger challenge is probably within the England set-up, but I know he’s got a lot of loyalty and affection towards the people at Leicester. If he does go down the England route, it will be a difficult decision because they have been so good to him.
“It’s not just Kevin’s ability on the field. Some coaches are great on the grass, others are great at setting up an infrastructure around the team, and some just bring a feelgood factor. With Kev you get a bit of all three.”
Sky Sports pundit McDermott and Sinfield progressed through the vaunted Waterhead amateur club in Oldham and later became team-mates at Leeds. Sinfield went on to captain the Rhinos to seven Super League titles and has also raised over £7million for Motor Neurone Disease charities since Rob Burrow was diagnosed three years ago.
“I first met Kevin when he was about 12 or 13 years of age,” remembered McDermott. “Wigan were courting him at the time, I recall meeting his dad Ray, and I just understood first-hand what everybody was saying about Kev.
“Being from the same amateur club as me, people talked about this great player, but any sport or club has always had prodigies who will be the next big thing.
"Kev, though, made an instant impression on me and we linked back up together when I signed for Leeds in 1995. In the 400 games I played, I probably played with Kevin Sinfield more than anybody else.”
During the daily commute across the Pennines, the professionalism of a young Sinfield rubbed off on McDermott, a man eight years his senior.
“We would drive over from Oldham to Leeds together every day and talk about all kinds of stuff,” added 50-year-old McDermott. "There’s a well-used phrase ‘you become the sum total of the seven people you spend the most amount of time with’.
“Even as a 17 or 18-year-old travelling over with Iestyn Harris and myself, some of the habits and personality traits that Kevin was already developing gradually drip-fed into my mentality. We’d stop off at the petrol station and get a snack but Kevin, even at an early age, would say ‘no, I just want a bottle of water’.
“His regimented, structured week wouldn’t allow any deviation and his way of doing things became our way of doing things.
“So fast forward to Kev now at 42, he’s only got better at that and he understands his mind and body and what it needs to be at to gain maximum potential. The challenges he did for our great friend Rob Burrow are an example of who Kev is, particularly during his training for the recent epic Ultra 7 in 7 Challenge.
“It’s something he had when he was younger, but he’s developed it over a period of 25 to 30 years to make himself what he is now. That comes from dedication. I’ve often described him as the most manufactured player I ever played with.
“That’s not to undermine his talent; it just emphasises the point that anything he wasn’t good at, he relentlessly went through all day every day until he’d mastered it. He’s done that now with rugby union and is why everyone is so keen to get him involved in their organisation.”
Sinfield was a relative novice to the 15-a-side code when he joined Leicester but has proved a huge success in a young backroom team alongside Borthwick, attack coach Richard Wigglesworth and Aled Walters, the strength and conditioning coach. The Tigers topped the table after every round of last season before beating Saracens in the Premiership final at Twickenham.
McDermott reasoned: “Kev didn’t have experience in rugby union, but he had experience in leading men and being able to influence a group. People talk about culture in sport a lot and when we’re in a team environment the group will follow its leaders.
“The leadership that Steve Borthwick has shown at Leicester, coupled with the messages that Kevin Sinfield has been giving him in that lieutenant role, meant that Leicester had the ability and the self-belief to win a title. The players trusted in the process and work ethic that was laid out for them.
“Delivery of gameplans is important but the belief in what you’re doing from those around you is probably even more important. Bringing someone like Kevin in from outside the sport breathed new life into Leicester Tigers and they have reaped the benefits.”
Read next
'Dream job' - Leeds Rhinos' Matt Cook outlines plans after bagging General Manager role
Kevin Sinfield endorsed for huge rugby union role by sport legend after Eddie Jones sacking
Kruise Leeming unsure on Leeds Rhinos captaincy future amid wait for decision
Rob Burrow uses ground-breaking technology to read CBeebies Bedtime Story
Cameron Smith's pride at new Leeds Rhinos deal as forward earns historic squad number
