The week of the Super League Grand Final is always a highlight for fans, but for Jack Sinfield it carries an extra layer of meaning. He is about to step onto the sport’s biggest stage while his father, Sir Kevin Sinfield MBE, completes a monumental charitable quest that has captured the nation’s attention. Kevin Sinfield, a living legend of Leeds Rhinos, is currently in the middle of an extraordinary endurance challenge: seven ultra‑marathons in seven consecutive days, each race ending at one of the twelve English Super League clubs. Since launching his first annual fundraising effort in 2020, Kevin and his team have raised more than £11 million for the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) community.
This year’s finale is designed to bring the saga full circle – the last ultra‑marathon will conclude on the hallowed turf of Old Trafford, where Kevin will hand the match ball to his son, Jack, as the younger Sinfield prepares to make his debut in a Super League Grand Final. The showdown pits Wakefield against the Warrington Wolves, a contest that will determine the sixth club ever to lift the Super League trophy.
The match is slated for Saturday, 3 October, and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. For Jack, the occasion is a whirlwind of emotions: pride in his father’s selfless achievement, nerves about his own first‑ever final, and the weight of living up to the legacy his dad forged with Leeds. Jack admits he has missed his father’s presence while Kevin has been on the road.
"I’ve spoken to him a little, but he’s been exhausted. When he planned this final leg at Old Trafford, I never imagined I’d be playing in it.
It’s turned out better than I could have dreamed," Jack said. He added that the house feels strange without his dad and that he hopes to see him again on Thursday when Kevin’s route passes near their neighbourhood. Old Trafford is not an unfamiliar arena for Jack. He grew up watching his father lift the Super League trophy seven times with Leeds, and his earliest memory of rugby league is the 2004 Grand Final, when he was merely three weeks old.
He has attended every Grand Final his dad played in, but the 2015 final stands out the most. "I was eleven then, and it was the last game for my dad. The whole family was emotional, especially because Leeds clinched the treble that year," Jack recalled. The logistical side of the event has been a challenge.
Jack confessed that securing tickets and organising travel has been a "carnage" over the past two days, yet he insists the effort is worthwhile. "These are the games you dream of playing in. It’s a chance to emulate my father and win a Grand Final myself," he said, noting that the experience feels surreal now that it is happening.
He also shared a personal moment captured on his phone: a photo of his father arriving at the stadium, a snapshot he hopes to replicate with a new picture after the match – "provided my dad gets a shower first," he joked. Adding a poignant twist to the narrative, the Player‑of‑the‑Match award for this season’s final is named the Rob Burrow Award, honoring another Leeds great who has become synonymous with charitable work for MND. The thought of Kevin watching his son possibly claim the Rob Burrow trophy is a fairy‑tale scenario that underscores the intertwining of sport, family, and philanthropy. The Grand Final will kick off at 6 pm, with pre‑match coverage beginning at 5 pm on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+.
For Jack Sinfield, the night promises a blend of personal triumph, familial pride, and the chance to write his own chapter in a story that began long before his first steps onto a rugby field. Whether he lifts the trophy or not, the experience of sharing Old Trafford with his father – a man who has run across the country to raise millions for a cause close to his heart – will remain a defining moment in his career and in the collective memory of rugby league supporters across the nation.