KEVIN Sinfield heading out on another physical challenge so soon after finishing one? His pal says do not rule it out.
For Darrel Rogers believes he is fit enough to do another after completing seven ultra-marathons in seven days.
The Grasscroft-based rugby league legend, now skills and kicking coach of England’s rugby union team, raised more than £1.6 million – including Gift Aid – for motor neurone disease charities by finishing 7 in 7: Together.
Already, plans for challenge number seven have been announced, with the finish coinciding with 2026’s Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford on October 3.
But Grotton-based Darrel, who Sinfield says is ‘like my wife’ during the week of the challenge, feels his mate can do one sooner.
“Kevin was awesome this time,” he said. “He was the fittest I’ve ever seen him.
“You know, you get a bit older, you think you go a little bit worse, but he could go again.
“I’m saying that now. He could go again.
“This last one was tough, but amazing at the same time. I think it was the best one ever in the way it was set up logistically and things like that.
“What I do, I just keep it simple – he trusts me and I trust him. I know how to say things and what not to say.
“We have a laugh and we have banter. That helps and when it gets tough, I’m there for him, but he’s so mentally tough, he doesn’t need that to be honest.
“It can get tough when you think about home and being away from home. When he speaks to each person whose family have suffered with MND and he gives you the story, it’s very upsetting.
“But when we set off again, he seems to just kick on. He’s fired up with that.
“Then we have that quiet time in the room. Just have a brew and we go to bed and we go again.
“I’m definitely not like his wife, but we have a brew together – he flicks a kettle and I make it.”
Darrel, who competed the course on a bike, was part of a team with a heavy Saddleworth influence as they ran through England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
2026 is likely to see a journey along the M62 corridor and the connection came at Shaw Hall Bank Road, home of Saddleworth Rangers ARLFC.
Darrel’s youngest son, Finlay, and Sinfield’s eldest, Jack, were classmates at primary and secondary school and both dads helped coach them at the Greenfield club.
And as well as the money, the raised awareness of MND and what people living with the condition and their families go through is a reason for doing what they do.
Darrel told Saddleworth Independent: “That’s really important, as well as the money..
“The amount of schoolkids that came out and lined the streets – and when they go into school, they talk about it, so they understand what MND is – is a big part as well.
“Our talk from the beginning of this latest challenge was about being together, togetherness.
“We emphasised that but there were all the kids saying, ‘Kevin, Kevin,’ – half of whom didn’t know which one he was.
“They were asking, ‘Which one’s Kevin?’ and the teachers were going, ‘All of them are Kevin.’
“But they’ll go and they’ll talk about it and while kids can be cruel sometimes, with each other and other people.
“So this was all about embracing what it was about and a message was, ‘Let’s be nice and kind.’”
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