Do you have a hero? And if so, who?

[THE_Liam]

I don't think I really have a hero, I don't really understand how people can be so passionate about sport as to call a sportsman a hero, really. They just kick/throw/hit a ball, what's so heroic about that?

There's a few points to make here. First of all, being a sports fan is the same as being a petrol head, you either get it, or you don't. You grow up playing a sport and you watch the local club play and you develop an attachment to them. It becomes a part of pride in where you live, because rugby league unlike most sports is still representative of its local area, in the sense that of our starting 13, 7 were born in Leeds and 9 were born in Yorkshire, as opposed to top football teams where there's rarely even 3 lads from Britain. Everyone round here knows someone who knows a Leeds player, I went to school with Danny McGuire's brother, and was coached by Jamie Peacock (MBE) and Jamie Jones-Buchanan. They're our own.

Round this end of Leeds you don't even hear about Leeds United. Every other car has a Rhinos sticker in it, and 4 gardens on my street have a Leeds Rhinos flag in them, including mine. There's a buzz in the air whenever Leeds are at home, everyone talks about it and plans their Friday around it, and as for when they win something, after winning the Challenge Cup at Wembley last year people were pissed for days!

It helps that half the teams in the league are local, so everyone works with a Wakefield fan, a Castleford fan, a Bradford fan, a Huddersfield fan, and banters about it at work.

Then one guy comes along who's a bit special. Leeds have had loads, not just Hanley but Schofield, Holmes, Jones, Shoebottom, and now Sinfield. They stand out in every game, set a great example for the kids, work their arses off and lead the club to trophies, for normal money. Not 150k a week, 60k a year like normal people, albeit well paid normal people.

They hold the hopes of a community on their shoulders, and make us proud of them and ourselves.

I hope that explains a small part of it, its hard to explain and probably doesn't make sense.

If TL : DR - LEEDS LEEDS LEEDS!!!