BY PHIL CAPLAN
AN OFFICIAL crowd of around 10,044 were at AMT Headingley on Sunday to see a veteran Rugby League side win the inaugural 745 cross-code challenge 33-21, which was set up to highlight and aid further research into Motor Neurone Disease.
The match was played under a set of hybrid rules put together by the late Rob Burrow and current MND sufferer Ed Slater, who was in attendance, and bordered more on the side of Rugby League, with 13 players a side, play-the-balls and six tackles in the opposition half.
The league stars on show included Barrie McDermott, who was sinbinned in the final minute, late addition Graham Steadman.
Skipper Danny McGuire, with a brace, and Paul McShane both scored on their return to the ground, while Luke Gale achieved a lifelong ambition of partnering new Castleford head coach McGuire in the halves, setting him up for his second try with a lovely flick pass.
In a full-on contest, played in great spirit and driving rain, with uncontested scrums and lineouts, the league side led 19-14 after the opening forty minutes, Billy Twelvetrees putting the union team in front at the start of the second half, but Wayne Pryce with his second score seeing the league side home.
“It was a really competitive game,” said Matt Diskin.
“The union guys played really well and adjusted to it; they were a real handful.
“To be on the field with these league legends and learn things has been fantastic,” added former union star Danny Cipriani, who flew in from Australia to participate.
“How often do we come to a game and there are no rivalries? Everyone was united in the same cause.”
There was also interest in the five-metre rule being in operation, with mounting concerns about collisions and head injuries in both codes.
The distinctive name for the match derived from the numbers worn by Burrow (7) and Slater (4) along with Scottish rugby union legend Doddie Weir (5), whose tartan was worn by the match officials, including on-field pair Ben Thaler and Frank Murphy.
The teams played in commemorative shirts, Slater’s union side in the cherry and white colours of Gloucester and designed by his children, while the league outfit wore a kit inspired by the yellow ‘7’ design created by Burrow’s children in 2022.
Poignantly, Rob’s father Geoff was named on the bench wearing the number seven shirt, while the sons of Ed Slater and Rob Burrow, Frank and Jackson, delivered the match ball.
While all the attention was on maintaining the fundraising for and continuing to heighten awareness of the disease, there was some interest in whether the concept might have greater implications for how a potential ‘merged’ sport might look some time in the future.
On the prospect, former dual-code international John Bentley, who played league with Leeds and Halifax, commented: “Both have changed and had to. It’s about entertainment and they are both very different games, but I do think prejudices have dropped on both sides.
“Life moves on and things change and this was recognition that we have two amazing sports coming together as one to celebrate.”
Thaler, who thoroughly enjoyed himself, after having come out of recent retirement to be involved, added: “The concept is really good, there may be something in this hybrid model. Someone who is very high up in rugby league said to me, ‘this is the start of the future’”
It is hoped to make the game an annual challenge possibly also involving celebrities in the style of Soccer Aid.
Click here to get the digital edition of League Express
Click here to subscribe to the print edition of League Express
League Express is also widely available from local newsagents across the north of England.
