Leeds Rhinos legend Kevin Sinfield joins RL Care’s board of trustees

Sinfield, who switched codes in August after leaving his Rhinos director of rugby role, is looking forward to enhancing the charity’s player-welfare provision from 2022 and beyond.

RL Cares is an independent charity that has responsibility for delivering welfare support to current and recently-retired rugby league players.

Sinfield, 41, explained: “I always said I’d never leave the sport.

“It’s given me everything I’ve got and it’s really important for me to give something back.

“I understand the importance of player welfare and the work that Rugby League Cares does: it’s a wonderful organisation and I’m delighted to be joining.

“I have only been gone a few months now, I know the people involved really well, they’re doing a wonderful job.

“Rugby League as a sport is at the forefront when it comes to supporting players and past players. Is it good enough at this moment in time? That’s a challenge for all of us, we need to improve and keep getting better all the time.

“There are always going to be difficulties that sports face, particularly from a welfare perspective, but we have to try and help.”

Sinfield, Leeds’ finest-ever captain, retired from rugby league in 2015 after leading Rhinos to an historic treble and his seventh Grand Final success. He played briefly for Yorkshire Carnegie but, after officially hanging up his boots, he moved into rugby league administration, initially with a role at the Rugby Football League (RFL).

Clearly, as one of the most successful and high-profile players of the modern era, Sinfield can offer plenty of valuable experience and nous.

But he insisted: “My role as a trustee of RL Cares isn’t to drastically change anything.

“It’s to support and help find new ways of helping players and past players.

“Being one myself, I’d like to think I have some understanding of that journey, what it feels like and what to expect at key moments.

“There are a lot of past players older than me who have experience that we can tap into some of their thoughts and feelings as we continue with the great work that’s being done.

“I wouldn’t have got involved if I wasn’t passionate about helping and supporting people.

“We won’t always get it right – no organisation gets things right all the time – but there is no lack of effort or commitment to support the playing community.

“That’s probably what’s happened on my journey in the last couple of years, with Rob [Burrow] in particular. I want to continue to help people, especially current and former rugby league players.

“I’d like to thank Leicester Tigers; they’ve been incredibly supportive of this move, and I can’t thank them enough.”

Sinfield has made an instant impact with Leicester who are top of the Gallagher Premiership having won all nine games so far, conceding an average of barely 16 points per fixture, the lowest in the competition.

He started his remarkable effort of running 101 miles in just 24 hours from the Tigers ground last month, finishing in emotional scenes at Headingley.

“We are proud to have Kevin aboard because it demonstrates two things,” said RL Cares chairman Tim Adams.

“Firstly, that he clearly believes in RL Cares and all that it does and, secondly, because it brings him back into rugby league following his ‘transfer’ to Leicester Tigers. We are really looking forward to him joining us and bringing all the expertise that he has.”

Sinfield joins a board of trustees that already possesses a rich and diverse level of skills and experience.

Adams is a retired businessman who was chairman of Sheffield Eagles when they won the Challenge Cup in 1998 and was a director of Super League (Europe) for four years.

A member of the Implementation Board that reviewed and reorganised the sport’s structures in 2002, Adams has been the chairman of the RL Benevolent Fund since 2004 as well as being involved with RL Cares since the charity’s inception in 2011.

Jane Walton is a creative entrepreneur with 20 years’ experience working in the public private and charitable sectors, Neville Smith brings considerable media knowledge from heading up Sky Sports’ coverage of rugby league for 30 years, Nicola Frampton is operations director for Domino’s UK, former Wakefield MP and founder of the All Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group David Hinchliffe adds political know-how and lawyer Karen Moorhouse, the RFL’s chief regulatory Officer, represents the sport’s governing body.