Rob Burrow's hybrid game is great for MND but code merger won't ever happen

I’m looking forward to seeing how the goes with its hybrid rules - but I can’t see rugby league and union ever properly merging.

Sunday November 17 sees a mix of stars from both codes playing at AMT Headingley in tribute to . Former Gloucester player Ed Slater is battling MND and it’s great that he can be involved in this charity match, taking on an idea that was started before Rob passed. There’s some really big names in there, not least , from the world of union.

It just shows the respect Ed has from people in both codes and likewise Rob and the Scotland rugby union legend Doddie Weir that so many great players want to come out and help them.

There’s no rugby club in either code that puts on events like this better than Leeds Rhinos. They’ve done it numerous times at Headingley and it’s wonderful they’re staging this one as well.

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It should be a great coming together of both codes as we continue supporting MND and shining a light on it. There has been talk recently of whether the codes will unite permanently and form one, new, hybrid game. With some English Premiership clubs folding and obviously money issues in some areas of rugby league here, it has been suggested as a solution.

But I can’t ever see it happening.

Rugby union and league struggle here because football is simply so massive: it’s so hard to compete with it. But that’s not the case everywhere: in Australia, the NRL rules while in France and New Zealand, rugby union is huge. How would that work? They wouldn’t entertain unifying the codes.

If we did it here, it wouldn’t get us anywhere if internationally other countries have stuck to their own codes. So it’s a ‘no’ from me.

BETFRED - PASSIONATE ABOUT SUPER LEAGUE