AGAR: RHINOS BEING INSPIRED BY BRAVE BURROW MND BATTLE

LEEDS coach Richard Agar wants his team to be inspired by Rob Burrow’s courageous battle with motor neurone disease after a 30-4 friendly win over Wakefield.

Cameron Smith, Konrad Hurrell, Alex Sutcliffe, Brad Dwyer, Stevie Ward and Harry Newman touched down while Luke Gale successfully came through his first match in over a year on debut.

Fund-raising for club legend Burrow (above) and his young family has already totalled almost £200,000 and Agar says his squad is fully behind the 37-year-old.

Agar (right) said: “He has been a focal point of our camp and there was a lot of upset when the news broke. We know it’s going to be a challenge but we’re hoping it’s going to have a galvanising effect on the whole club.

“I’ve had rugby league clubs and pubs with no connection to Leeds Rhinos ringing me up wanting to contribute to the efforts over the last week.

“I had somebody knock on my father’s door on Christmas Eve with £150 they’d collected at the pub in the afternoon, asking if I’d take it into the club to contribute to the fund.

“The response has been overwhelming and we want it to have a galvanising effect on us and for Rob for the whole year.”

On the performance of Gale, Agar added: “We took him off at the end to get a couple of other players on and have a look at some combinations, but I thought Luke looked really good to say he’d had 12 months off.”

Lee Kershaw scored Wakefield’s only try. ■Danny Richardson scored on his first appearance for new club Castleford but a youthful Tigers side were beaten 20-14 by Championship Bradford.