Fresh from the news that Jamie Peacock is to join rivals Hull KR at the end of the current Super League season, as he hangs up his playing boots and takes on the new role of football manager, it seems that Leeds Rhinos will also have to survive without the services of 'King Kevin' Sinfield as well. Their talismanic and inspirational captain has made the decision that he too will retire from the game at the season's end, but for him there is a new challenge of playing Rugby union for the Yorkshire Carnegie side, who currently play in the Championship.
For many years 34-year-old Sinfield has been the Rhinos stand out player, a kicking machine with few contemporaries in the British game, having scored the most points in the league since the Super League came into being. He has been a shining role model for the rest of the side to look up to, leading his team to six titles and that essential Challenge Cup success last season. Rhinos have also 'conquered' the best the southern hemisphere has had to offer on three occasions, by winning the World Club Challenge match. He has also played at international level for both England and Great Britain, captaining the Red Rose nation in recent times. He is the equivalent to Leeds that Steven Gerrard is for Liverpool FC, a one-club man who has been with the Rhinos from an early age, debuting in the rough and tumble game of rugby league at the tender age of just 16 after joining the club at 13-years-old.
However, despite all the plaudits and adulation afforded to him by the Leeds' fans, it seems that there has always been a burning desire within Sinfield to make the move and now he has his opportunity. He seems determined to "take the club back to where it belongs in the Premiership", a league they featured in back at the start of the millennium, in their former guise as Leeds Tykes.
It will be quite some challenge to regain top flight status for Yorkshire Carnegie, as the side currently lie back in sixth place in the Championship this campaign, well behind the pacesetters Bristol and Worcester who seem destined to contest for promotion this time around.
Not that Sinfield has lost his focus on the current campaign with the Rhinos, as his side currently top the Super League table going into the week eight fixtures and look set for a ding dong battle with old rivals St Helens this season.
He has been sidelined for a few matches with a troublesome hamstring problem, but expects to be back in the fold soon to add his guile and kicking prowess to the cause. Few would bet against him going out with a bang for the Rhinos, perhaps with another Grand Final victory. Now that would suit Sinfeld just 'grand'.
