Kevin Sinfield

Speaker 30:01

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

Presenter0:05

Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast. Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were castaway to a desert island. And, for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.

Presenter0:44

My castaway this week is the rugby player Kevin Sinfield. He's widely regarded as one of the greatest players in rugby league history, with the golden boot to prove it. He spent most of his professional career at Leeds Rhinos, where his kick became the stuff of rugby legend and where he earned the nickname Serkev. He's captained the England team, represented Great Britain and he finished his playing career as one of the most decorated players in the history of English rugby league.

Presenter1:11

His reputation for excellence and endurance in team sport on the pitch is matched by his outstanding achievements in the name of team spirit off it. In recent years he's become a fundraiser extraordinaire, running seven marathons in seven days and 101 miles in just 24 hours to raise money in support of his rhinos teammate Rob Burrow and to fight the condition Rob suffers from, motor neurone disease. He says, I don't think there's a better feeling than giving people hope.

Presenter1:39

Kevin Sinfield, welcome to Desert Island Discs.

Kevin Sinfield1:42

Thank you. What a lovely introduction is very nice.

Presenter1:45

Well, it's lovely to have you with us, especially as the Rugby League World Cup is going to be kicking off soon. It's a Home World Cup, England, Wales and Scotland all taking part. How optimistic are you that one of our national teams might win?

Kevin Sinfield1:56

Yeah, very optimistic. I think it's huge for the sport of rugby league to have the men's, women's and wheelchair finals all in the UK, all across October and November is is wonderful for the sport and it'd be a wonderful tournament.

Presenter2:11

What does it mean to you to be part of a team?

Kevin Sinfield2:14

When you have such a combative sport as you're doing in League and Union and people are putting their bodies on line every single day, then y you sort of forged together and there becomes a real friendship. I think rugby dressing rooms are different anyway. I think the banter and the way people look after each other and care for each other actually isn't talked about that much from such a match all sport, but it's

Presenter2:39

Yeah, this is

Kevin Sinfield2:39

It's very much a part of the dressing rooms I've been in.

Presenter2:41

It's an interesting contradiction that, isn't it? Because it does have this kind of tough guy reputation, especially when it comes to league in particular. It's seen as the kind of rough and ready sport. But actually, this thread of kind of friendship and love really is huge in your story and it's a big part of what drew you to the game in the first place and what you love about it.

Kevin Sinfield3:02

You rely on each other on the field and you've got to trust each other and you've got to be honest with each other and

Kevin Sinfield3:07

Now that transfers into every day when you're off the field with each other and it doesn't stop when you finish playing, especially.

Presenter3:13

Kevin got so many friends and reflections to get into today and to talk to you about. But of course, we're also sharing your discs. This is your first choice today. What have you gone for and why?

Kevin Sinfield3:24

I felt like I needed to have a rugby league anthem in there. I grew up watching the Challenge Cup final and I played before a Challenge Cup final in 1992 as a schoolboy in a curtain raiser at the Old Wembley. And this anthem, if you like, got played that day and it's synonymous with the sport. And my first pick is Jerusalem.

Speaker 44:09

My Spirit Lord, thou unfold, bring me my chariot.

Speaker 44:21

I will not cease from lent afar, Nor shall my soul sleep in my land.

Speaker 44:34

Oh breath

Presenter4:46

Jerusalem, performed by the Hunley Male Voice Choir and the band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines. Music composed by Hubert Parry and words by William Blake. That track to remind you of your time playing Rugby League for England, Kevin Sinfield. So let's go back to the beginning then. You're the youngest of three kids, born it in nineteen eighty. Were you a sports loving family?

Kevin Sinfield5:05

I wouldn't say so. I think from deepest, darkest, Oldham. So back then we had a good football team, Oldham Athletic, and we had a quite a strong rugby team as well. The town was quite a sporty town.

Presenter5:18

Okay, but it was your brother that that got you into rugby, I think.

Kevin Sinfield5:18

Okay, but it

Kevin Sinfield5:20

Yeah.

Kevin Sinfield5:21

Yeah, that's right. He started to play at the local club. He'd been playing about eighteen months and came home one day and I was seven, not showing much interest really in rugby. I I wanted to play football and he came home and said the under nines were short. Do I fancy going having a trial? I was there the following Saturday morning and um he ran off and left me to play with the under elevens.

Speaker 45:44

No.

Kevin Sinfield5:44

And uh yeah, I burst into tears and didn't know anybody and just left on my own and but sort of within 10 or 15 minutes was up on the the field. It always rains in Oldham, so the fields are always wet and muddy and we were in these big tackle bags and diving in the mud and it was like a big game of it's a knockout and and it was just like it was one of the best things I've done and I thought, wow, how good is this? And I got home that day and I was covered in mud and I didn't get told off for it and I thought I've probably found where I need to be.

Presenter6:07

Go.

Presenter6:13

So this is your thing. You'd hit your groove. Now, behind every professional athlete, there's usually a backup family team who've supported them every step of the way. So tell me about yours, your parents, Beryl and Ray.

Kevin Sinfield6:25

My dad was an electrician and working a lot of hours with a mortgage and three kids and they did a really good job of bringing us up and I had a really happy childhood. Spent a lot of time with my older brother playing football and and rugby and we shared a bedroom. He probably beat me up every day till I was about fifteen and then

Presenter6:44

So there's sibling tensions, which is inevitable in a shared bedroom, I think, probably.

Kevin Sinfield6:47

Bedroom, I think, probably.

Presenter6:50

And tell me a little bit more about your mum. So, your dad's an electrician doing lots of overtime and lots of work. Did your mum work?

Kevin Sinfield6:55

She had a a number of different jobs. She was a trained chef, so the food was always good that we got fed, but she worked a lot of nights. She worked in the hospital feeding the doctors and nurses for a number of years. Then she retrained and did sort of a couple of different administrative roles. Ended up working at the Royal Oldham Hospital. When you look back, you probably don't realise at the time, but when I look back now, how hard they work for us.

Presenter7:18

Let's have some music then. This is your second disc today.

Kevin Sinfield7:21

It's the first song I've really

Kevin Sinfield7:24

I can remember sort of being a a crazy five or six year old charging round the lounge with my little white vest on and big boxing gloves. Back then I had big thick blonde hair and so when I look back on photographs and sort of see pictures like that I know what music was on in the background and it was always this and it's a song now that I love to hear and reminds me being five and six.

Speaker 48:01

MONA

Speaker 48:06

Oh, oh, Johnny Ray Sanita won the rail. But what the hearts is my mouth Our love is wide Signal on the whole and

Speaker 48:26

Oh young superstay more than ever.

Speaker 48:32

Come on early, Tura, Lura, Tura, Loo Ra!

Speaker 48:39

Hey, what is it that's landed for?

Speaker 48:46

Come on I mean, oh I swear I can baby at this moment

Speaker 48:52

Everything you make address for my thoughts are the best for John Dirty I come on

Presenter9:09

Dexies Midnight Runners and come on Eileen. So Kevin Sinfield, you completed a British Rugby League coaching scheme when you were 13 years old, I think, and your report included the comment, Kevin could develop into a quality player. So you said you were just 11 when you realised this was what you wanted to do. When did reality catch up with you? When did you really think, actually, there's a possibility that this could work out for me? It's not just a dream.

Kevin Sinfield9:36

I was eleven when the penny dropped. I weren't the most gifted rugby player, certainly physically. There were guys who were a lot bigger and faster and stronger and skilful and all those different elements that make a great rugby player. But the thing that I knew I could be was the most committed and the most disciplined. So it all became about attitude and getting that right. And I didn't want to end up a bloke propping up a bar when I was in my late twenties and have regrets and look in the mirror and think I've wasted what I had, so I thought I'm gonna throw everything at it. And if I'm not good enough, or I get injured, or somebody doesn't like me, well, that's part of sport. I just love training, I love playing, I love getting fulfilment at the end of a game of playing well and winning. And that's probably started off spending a lot of time with my dad. So we're signing for Leeds, it meant I was over there at first once a week and then very quickly twice a week, and before you know it, you're there four and five times a week, especially on my way up to being sixteen, seventeen, and a lot of car journeys together.

Speaker 410:25

Mm-hmm.

Presenter10:42

So it meant you got the time with your dad that you really wanted to

Kevin Sinfield10:44

I've got a brilliant time with my dad, and he would get up extra early to finish his work. He'd get home so he could take us across the leads, and you know, I'd be getting home at half past nine, quarter to ten at night, and he was giving that time up four and five nights a week. Mm-mm would then be on the table when I walked in, or dinner, as they say, down in London.

Presenter11:05

I haven't got used to that yet. It's been twenty years and still still get it the wrong way around.

Kevin Sinfield11:06

Yeah, it's been twenty years. It's still still gonna

Kevin Sinfield11:09

It was a tough couple of years because you spent a lot of time on the road getting home and having to do homework from school and

Presenter11:16

How did you manage? How did you get on at school?

Kevin Sinfield11:18

I think I'd seen how hard my my parents had worked and that sort of discipline was in me and I knew that my education was really important. The day I got my GCSE results I was called into training the first team and I made my debut the following day. So I went actually at school with my mates picking my GCSE results up and my parents were there and I made my debut as a sixteen year old and got offered a full-time contract and I wanted to play rugby. I was advised to continue with my A-levels and I did. It's time for your third track today Kevin. What's it gonna be? I've chosen this because of my dad. He's a big Van Morrison fan and um yeah it's it's one of my favourites as well. We played this a number of times on those long car journeys over from Moldham to Leeds so it'd be someone like you from Van Morrison.

Speaker 412:08

I've been traveling all around the world.

Speaker 412:14

When will you

Speaker 412:16

Come through.

Speaker 412:19

Someone like you

Speaker 412:23

Breaking all worthwhile

Speaker 412:26

Someone like you

Speaker 412:30

Keep it satisfied someone exactly like

Presenter12:36

Van Morrison and someone like you. So, Kevin Sinfield, I think we'd better go back to that summer of nineteen ninety seven then. I mean, what a time. You made your debut with Leeds Rhinos when you were sixteen. You got your GCSE results at the same time. How do you look back on it? What do you remember about it?

Kevin Sinfield12:55

I started to get paid for playing, which was brilliant. And then you very quickly found myself playing in the reserves, which was the first time I played against men. And a couple of weeks after that, got called into the first team. So unbelievable experience. To play in front of sort of fifteen thousand people at sixteen, to play alongside and against people who I really looked up to and was just a brilliant thing to happen because what I did it it taught me two things. It taught me that um mentally I wasn't ready to play at that level every week and physically I weren't and it meant I had a lot of work to do. So until I was out there and in it, like you think you understand it. Oh yeah, I'm all over this, I've got this, I can do it. Yeah. And the minute you you're in the cauldron and your lungs are burning that hard, they're burning more than they've ever done before and the men are bigger and stronger than you've ever faced before and I was sixteen, I was still a kid.

Presenter13:35

Oh yeah, I'm all over this. I've got this, I can do it.

Presenter13:52

At what point did you think you'd caught up and yeah, I'm I'm part of the squad now, I can do it?

Kevin Sinfield13:56

Uh probably two years. Yeah.

Presenter13:58

So tell me about the A levels. I mean, it must have been hard trying to play elite rugby, keep up your training while also holding down all the work you had to do in sixth form.

Kevin Sinfield14:07

Yeah, it was the two most difficult years of my career. As soon as I'd finished college, straight over to Leeds to train. Back home from training, books were open again, studying. So I had two years of that, I had very little social life. Then I had a wonderful opportunity and I didn't want to waste it and I wanted to play for England and Great Britain. I wanted to win trophies.

Presenter14:10

Mm-hmm.

Presenter14:23

Hmm.

Kevin Sinfield14:28

Yeah.

Presenter14:28

Uh

Kevin Sinfield14:28

Uh

Presenter14:28

It's time for your f

Kevin Sinfield14:29

Fourth.

Presenter14:29

Disk. What do we got in the air next?

Kevin Sinfield14:31

I had to go with one of this guy's songs. He is the double of my best mate, who I played the vast majority of my career with in Jamie Jones Buchanan. He's been a really, really strong friend, he makes me laugh. But I think there's probably a bit of a story with this artist as well. Hit the heights at a similar time as I started to play first team and had a huge drop because of some TV programmes and found a way back and fought his way back. And I think there's a real message in there for people out there. So probably a little bit like my career, there's some really tough moments, but you've got to keep fighting and persevering. And this guy did. So I'm going to go with one of his classics, which is Seven Days by Craig David.

Speaker 415:18

Well, damn sure She couldn't wait Cinnamon Queen Let me update But what did she say? She said she loved to A rendezvous She asked me what we were gonna do some stuff But about

Speaker 415:37

For a drink on Tuesday, we make another fire Wednesday And on Thursday and Friday and Saturday We chilled on Sunday, I'll bet this guy on Monday

Presenter15:49

Craig David and seven days. So Kevin Sinfeld, talk me through becoming captain at aged twenty two. It's all been going well as a player, Leeds Rhinos. They then mark you out as captain. What was your reaction when they asked you to take it on?

Kevin Sinfield16:05

Absolutely delighted. Um at the time um a guy called Francis Cummins was captain and um my first response besides being elated was to call him and asking if he was cool with it and if I'd get his support. What did he say? I had a brilliant conversation with him and he said he'd bat me every day of the week and that made it sorta really special.

Presenter16:19

What did he say?

Presenter16:28

How much research did you do into psychology to take on that role and during that time as captain, how to get the best out of people, how to understand the mental side of what you needed to deliver?

Kevin Sinfield16:39

Honestly I didn't do any. Probably s spent a lot of time with

Kevin Sinfield16:42

Rugby lads all the way through. I felt they had a good understanding and a good read on most rugby lads. Like you take a group of rugby players into a hotel and you put them in five star, they're all got dressing gowns and slippers on. Like they think they're on holiday. So you can't do that for a game prep. You put'em in three star and the mourn. So understanding where you've got to put'em. So what's that? What four star? Four star?

Presenter17:03

So what's that? What four stars?

Kevin Sinfield17:06

So there's no there's no dressing gown, there's no slippers and

Presenter17:09

I see. Comfy but not too comfy.

Kevin Sinfield17:10

Comfy but not too comfy. Yeah, you get nice biscuits with your coffee maker in the machine, so.

Presenter17:13

Got it.

Kevin Sinfield17:14

Yeah, I had a good a good understanding, I think probably came from my upbringing and decent amount of emotional intelligence and then those senior players who were in around me like were better than me at different things and diff and at different moments and I was quite happy to share the workload and say, I need your help.

Presenter17:18

Decentralized.

Presenter17:31

Let's have some more music now, I think. It is disc number five, Kevin. What is it?

Kevin Sinfield17:35

This is a really easy pick. It's my wife's favourite song. She goes absolutely crazy every time it's played. Whatever do or event we're at, if there's a DJ or somebody playing music, she's straight over to ask for this. And she's always got a smile on her face when she hears it, and she's always dancing. So it is Tiffany. I think we're alone now.

Speaker 417:58

As fast as we can!

Speaker 418:00

Holding up to one another then.

Speaker 418:04

Tryna get away into the night and then you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say, I think we're alone now.

Kevin Sinfield18:07

Night of the

Speaker 418:15

It doesn't seem to be anyone around

Kevin Sinfield18:17

One alright

Speaker 418:20

I think we're alone now The team of arms is the only sound

Presenter18:27

Tiffany and I think we're alone now. So Kevin Sinfield, you captained Leeds Rhinos for thirteen years and in twenty fifteen you led them to victory when they secured the Treble, the first time in the club's history, an absolutely incredible achievement. Looking back, what are your proudest moments of your time with the the

Kevin Sinfield18:46

Club. Certainly proud of that final season. Probably all the trophies I was involved in are special, but.

Kevin Sinfield18:53

The nice thing, because we had the perfect ending and I say we, um it's two other players as well who finished that day, Jamie Peacock and Kylie Luluai who were who were great friends, it allowed me to close the book on my playing career and

Kevin Sinfield19:08

Almost I won't say satisfied, but content that from that eleven-year-old kid who decided he would love to be a rugby player uh for his career, to be able to to live that dream and then be able to close the book, if you like, with how it finished was incredible. The thing I'm most proud of is the friendships. Yeah, they're the bits I'm most proud of.

Presenter19:29

Are they the bits you miss the most?

Kevin Sinfield19:32

Yeah, they are, yeah. You'll find most sports people who've been in team sports, when it finishes for them, they miss that friendship, camaraderie, banter, miss laughing at silly things, silly daff things that players do. But I think within that, I really miss being in a team and and going through those difficult moments and and finding a way through. Um

Presenter19:41

Bones

Presenter19:56

Well, you're finding plenty of difficult moments to put yourself in put yourself through still these days, which we'll come to in a bit. So after you retired from playing professionally, you went on to switch codes and you went to play rugby union with Yorkshire Carnegie. What was behind that decision?

Kevin Sinfield20:14

I'd been in the same dressing room for a long time at the Rhinos, probably trying to get ready for life after rugby. I'd been back to university and studied. Yes, he didn't.

Presenter20:24

Yes, you've done BSC in in sports studies and a a master's in sports and business as well.

Kevin Sinfield20:29

So you agree

Presenter20:29

Yeah. So you were really getting your ducks in a row for for what would come next.

Kevin Sinfield20:31

I was I was trying. I was trying. I think nothing can prepare you for retiring. Not after sort of playing. Um, I was really lucky to play nineteen years, but after playing that length of time and suddenly being in the real world trying to get a real job was quite daunting.

Presenter20:46

That transition is very, very difficult for people. How did you manage it?

Kevin Sinfield20:51

Yeah, it was tough. Yeah, I'd probably still say I'm transitioning now. I'm six years out.

Kevin Sinfield20:56

and still searching for something that gives you just as much fulfilment as playing did'cause uh it's so hard to find. But as a rugby league player it's probably a double edged sword because, you know, listeners might be thinking that you play professionally for nineteen years, you set up for life, but the reality is that the vast majority of rugby league players aren't, so

Presenter21:15

True.

Kevin Sinfield21:16

It's the reason why I did my earlier, it's the reason why I've gone under two degrees to try and set myself up, but the reality that you're starting a new career and there are some sports where players can retire and understand that financially they're looked after for the rest of their life, and that's a wonderful security to have, but I would also say that then means there's a huge challenge and people suddenly have a massive drop in earnings and there's all s I'm I'm aware of all sorts of troubles and

Presenter21:46

Pitfalls.

Kevin Sinfield21:46

Pitfalls that can come like I said, I I felt I'd prepared the best I could whilst I'm playing, I've studied for eight years at university, you know, tried to give myself the best platform, but still the bit that's missing is the Friday night game or the Saturday afternoon where you have such elation or such desperation, like that roller coaster is suddenly those highs and lows are taken away and and you

Kevin Sinfield22:15

you end up in a very strange life that can be perceived as quite boring and mundane and without some of those big moments.

Presenter22:26

Let's take a second for some more music, Kevin. This is your sixth choice. What have you gone for?

Kevin Sinfield22:31

I am a massive saxophone fan, and this was a song that was a cover during my teens. But I remember being on a rugby trip to Jacksonville, Australia, on a pre-season camp, and playing that night was a a saxophone band and a singer, and they did a wonderful job of this song, but I do remember it from my teens. It'd be Baker Street by Undercover.

Speaker 423:11

Way down the

Speaker 423:21

Tell them who you see and you talk about it

Presenter23:27

Undercover and Baker Street. So, Kevin Sinfield, in terms of finding elation, extremely difficult challenges, and emotional catharsis, I think we should talk about your epic fundraising journey because it contains all of those things. It all started in 2020. You started on this journey running seven marathons in seven days, and you were raising money for motor neuron disease in a fight against motor neuron disease. And it was inspired by your friend and former rugby teammate, Rob Burrow. He'd been diagnosed with MND.

Presenter24:00

How did you prepare for the challenge that you set yourself initially?

Kevin Sinfield24:05

Difficult because we threw it together in about six weeks. Rob got diagnosed in December 2019, and a whole loads of different things happened then with former teammates and the club.

Kevin Sinfield24:16

But we set about raising an amount of money for Rob and

Presenter24:19

It was quite a modest target to I mean, comparatively, to what it's become and and where you've taken it. It was so he was number seven shirt, and so you you kind of put a pin in that and and chose this kind of seventy seven thousand pound target.

Kevin Sinfield24:23

Yeah.

Kevin Sinfield24:32

Yep, but just before we we set off with that target, we'd sort of had a an amount of money we was trying to raise as a as a group, if you like, for Rob. Then Covid hit and put a stop to everything. So everybody was in lockdown and I think my goal to at that time was to run from an hour a day, was it we were allowed out, I used to go and run to clear my mind and we got to sort of October time and the amount of money we wanted to raise for Rob was short, so I said we'll try and do something. I made a promise to him that by Christmas we'd have this target.

Presenter24:50

Well

Presenter25:04

So you wanted to raise the money for for him and his family so he knew they were looked after and he didn't have to worry.

Kevin Sinfield25:10

Yeah. So threw this together, but it at the time there was still a lot of COVID restrictions. I asked a couple of mates if they fancied jumping in and joining to raise a bit of money, and they did. And before we know it, we set out on day one with 40 grand with a target of hitting 77,000. The end of day one was at 100K. I remember the last day, which was incredible, the last day we ate a million pounds. As I run past my old high school with my youngest son, stood outside. There were some moments throughout the seven days where

Kevin Sinfield25:42

Like I look back on now and it was the whole thing was brilliant and time's a great healer'cause you don't remember any of the pain or the strife you went through, but you just remember the good times and yeah, it was a wonderful thing to do.

Presenter25:48

Uh

Presenter25:49

Just remember.

Presenter25:52

You didn't stop there though. You followed that Herculean effort up last November by running one hundred and one miles in twenty four hours. So no sleep, barely any rest. Did you have any doubts that you would complete it?

Kevin Sinfield26:05

Yeah, massive doubts. I started a new job. I'm in August. You know, I'm coaching, and typically a coach. So you were in Leicester then? I was in Leicester, yeah, but I'm still living in Oldham. So typically, a coach's job isn't 40 hours a week. You can time that by a couple more, and you get somewhere near. Plus, you factor in the travel and juggling family time. It made it really difficult to try and train. And now I need to train every day. I need it for myself to be a better person. But I'm not talking about training for hours, I'm talking a 30-minute hit, and I'm happy and I'm good to go. We had to come up with something I could do in a day. I couldn't have a great deal of time. I've just started a new job, and you know, it's like getting time off. We just start a new job, and you know, with the help of my wife and the fact that I've been involved in two wonderful sporting organisations in Leicester Tags and Leeds Rhinos, and you work out the distance between the two, and it just seems to fit. So, we actually run 104 miles because we got lost twice.

Presenter26:12

So you were in Leicester then.

Kevin Sinfield27:05

It's good to have that on record.

Presenter27:05

It's good to have that on record. Make sure we get the record straight. So you started off in Leicester.

Kevin Sinfield27:11

Yep.

Presenter27:11

And you were running back to Leeds.

Kevin Sinfield27:13

Yeah. Look, how was Marathon Fit? Like I I've tried to run two marathons a year ever since I finished playing and I've ended up doing a fair few more now, thanks to Rob. I think for him and what he's going through and the family are going through, I wanted to show them that I cared. And it sounds daff that you're doing a run to show someone that you care because

Kevin Sinfield27:32

actually should be with him and and I I see him as often as I can and spend time with him but

Speaker 427:36

Hmm.

Kevin Sinfield27:37

Also, I want to show him that I'm trying to do my bit to raise awareness. I want to show him that we'll continue to do our bit to try and find a cure and a drug that slows this down because it's a terrible disease and

Kevin Sinfield27:50

This massively underfunded?

Presenter27:52

And I think as well it's it connects to that idea that you know you don't get a head start, you don't get time to train, when you get a diagnosis, you're in it. That's it and that's it and you just gotta face whatever it throws at you.

Kevin Sinfield27:59

That's it.

Kevin Sinfield28:01

That's it. So up until we did the extra mile, the the hundred and four miles as it was I'd only ever ran a marathon distance. Two weeks before we did the extra mile I ran twelve hours of the event which was started at three in the morning. People don't see these bits and I don't want people to see these bits'cause like they're the bits where you have to really you go into the apex of pain, you're going into that dark bit. I quite like going in there. Really? Yeah, I still like going in there'cause it it it lets me know I'm

Kevin Sinfield28:31

I've still got some fire in my belly and

Presenter28:32

And you're not done with your challenges. What have you got planned next?

Kevin Sinfield28:36

That team that started out two years ago is still intact with a few more added on. You know, last year we were able to pull together two sports in rugby league and rugby union. And BBC Breakfast have done such a wonderful job of championing three wonderful men from three different sports: Rob Burrow from Rugby League, Doddy Ware from Ruby Union, and Stephen Darby from football. And we'll combine the three of them and we'll run to some famous sports grounds or by famous sports grounds that meant a lot to all three. So we'll run seven ultramarathons in seven days, starting in Edinburgh at Murrayfield and finishing at the Rugby League World Cup final, hopefully at half-time of the men's game.

Presenter29:14

So an ultra marathon is how long? How long are we to

Kevin Sinfield29:16

An ultramarathon is anything longer than a marathon distance. So typically people run fifty K or one hundred K or one hundred miles. These work out anywhere between sixty five and seventy K a day, which is about forty mile.

Presenter29:30

Wishing you the very best of luck, Kevin. All right, let's take a second for some more music, I think. This is your seventh choice. What have you gone for and why are you taking it with you today?

Kevin Sinfield29:39

This is probably my favourite song. It does remind me of The Marathons. It was played every day during the Marathons and it is Last Request by Paolo Nattina.

Speaker 429:52

Wrap my last request and just let me hold you

Speaker 429:57

Don't shrug your shoulders

Speaker 430:01

Lay down this side of me Sure I can't accept that we're going nowhere

Speaker 430:08

But one last time, let's go there

Speaker 430:13

Lay down the child me, I found

Presenter30:20

Paolo Nattini and last request. So Kevin Sinfield, you're now at the Rugby Union Club Leicester Tigers as defence coach. After being associated for so many years with one team, was it difficult to make that move?

Kevin Sinfield30:32

It was, yeah. But the club had been wonderful. I've been so lucky to join such a wonderful club with a great fan base. The young players remind me a lot of when I was coming through at Leeds and our core group of young players who were coming through, so I think it's going to be a s a special time for the players for if they can keep together, they'll have a special few years together.

Presenter30:52

The future's bright.

Kevin Sinfield30:53

Yeah.

Presenter30:54

There have been concerns recently about in football and rugby as well about potential long term effects of concussion. Do you have concerns about the physical impacts that players can suffer during their careers? I mean, you've been knocked out yourself.

Kevin Sinfield31:07

Yeah, I th I think we're certainly aware of it. I think the advances now medically, the advances in sport and how they're governed.

Kevin Sinfield31:19

Players are looked after better than they've ever been.

Presenter31:21

And what does that mean? Is that in terms of the way people play or the the support that's given or?

Kevin Sinfield31:26

Probably both. So governing bodies have worked really hard on to take away as many head collisions as they can and then how those head collisions are monitored, looked after. The protocols that are in place now are better and I'd say it's safer than it's ever been to play the sport. However, there will continue to be head collisions in sport, but there are head collisions in all different walks of life too. So if we took all contact away from rugby and and it became something that is very very different to what it looks like today, we then have a lot of people stop playing.

Presenter32:02

It's almost time now to send you away to the island, Kevin. How will you be with all that solitude that's waiting for you? You are a team player, used to being with so many people.

Kevin Sinfield32:12

Yeah, it'll be tough. I think I've talked a lot about friendships and memories. I'll be able to take the memories with me, but unfortunately the friendships won't be there, so I will get very fidgety after an hour or two.

Presenter32:22

Well, you'll have plenty of challenges, of course, to to keep you going. How do you think you'll get on with the practical aspects of being a castaway? You know, constructing a sh a shelter, fending for yourself, finding food, making a fire, all that kind of stuff.

Kevin Sinfield32:34

As long as there are a couple of chickens on there and I can have some eggs every day, I'll be pretty happy.

Presenter32:38

Chickens. You'll be lucky if you find a chicken, but mind you, you never know, after all these years, a chicken may have evolved at some point on the island.

Presenter32:46

One more track before we send you there though, Kevin Sinfield. What is your final choice today going to be, and why?

Kevin Sinfield32:51

I was fortunate enough to get to see these guys play a couple of years ago. Jane and I had gone along and loved the song. Would love to go back and see them play again, but it is Fix You by Coplaire.

Speaker 433:05

Lights will guide you home.

Speaker 433:13

And ignore bones and I will try

Speaker 433:23

A fiction.

Presenter33:34

Cold play and fix you. So, Kevin Sinfield, I'm going to send you away to the island. I'm giving you the books, the Bible, the complete works of Shakespeare, and another of your choice to take with you. What will your book be?

Kevin Sinfield33:46

It's a book that not many listeners will know. It's a book called The Edge. It was given to me by a former rugby league great, a guy called Dean Bell. He was the guy who gave me my debut as a sixteen year old. It's an American book full of wonderful quotes from different sports people and actors and governors and people who've been really successful in their careers and um it's pretty much been my Bible through my career.

Presenter34:12

It's yours. You can also have a luxury item, something to make life a little bit easier, more enjoyable. Not too practical, though. What will it be?

Kevin Sinfield34:19

I think we have to stick with the running theme, so it'd be a self-propelled treadmill.

Presenter34:24

A self-propelled treadmill is supposed to be a luxury item.

Kevin Sinfield34:28

I I need to train every day. I need thirty minutes, so

Presenter34:31

Okay, so on a kind of to be the best you mental health point of view. Okay, get it. In which case, all right.

Presenter34:38

And finally, which one track of the eight that you've shared with us today would you save from the waves if you had to, Kevin?

Kevin Sinfield34:44

It would have to be the last request from Paolo Nartina. Reminds me of some really good times and reminds me of the last couple of years and being back in a team and feeling like the ready bread man and glowing after two wonderful challenges.

Presenter34:59

With another to come. Kevin Zinfield, thank you very much for letting us hear your desert island discs.

Kevin Sinfield35:05

Thank you.

Presenter35:17

Hello. Well, we'll leave Kevin there happily running on his island on his treadmill. We have cast many rugby sportsmen away over the years. They include the players Will Carling and Lawrence Delalio and the rugby referee Nigel Owens. You can hear their programmes if you search through our Desert Island Discs programme archive or on BBC Sounds. The studio manager for today's programme was Emma Hart and the producer was Sarah Taylor. Next time my guest will be the actor Maxine Peake. I do hope you'll join us.

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