Sir Kevin Sinfield has revealed the touching rule he always followed with son Jack as he opens up on their special bond and his Grand Final triumph

Sir Kevin Sinfield has opened up on his special relationship with son Jack, revealing the simple rule he has always followed to ensure rugby never comes between them as father and son.

The rugby league legend enjoyed an extraordinary day earlier this month as he completed his latest gruelling fundraising challenge for Motor Neurone Disease, before watching his 22-year-old son celebrate Grand Final glory with Wakefield Trinity at Old Trafford.

It was a remarkable family occasion, with Sinfield completing his seventh running challenge at the Manchester stadium on the same day Jack helped Wakefield defy the odds to lift the Super League trophy.

But for all the success the Sinfield name has enjoyed in rugby league, the former Leeds Rhinos star has revealed how he has always been determined to allow his son to forge his own path, free from the pressure of living up to his famous father.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast, Sinfield explained how he made a conscious decision early in Jack's rugby career to separate his role as a parent from any involvement in coaching.

"I coached him for a very short space of time," he said.

"He had two wonderful coaches throughout his community rugby. Unfortunately, one of them was poorly, and I jumped in to help for a little bit.

"I suppose from growing up at home in my early 20s and understanding what my dad was like with me, home was always a sanctuary and somewhere where I got away from rugby, and I wanted it to be the same for Jack.

"Our relationship when I coached him was: when we get out the car at rugby, I'm your coach. When we get back in the car, I'm your dad, and I won't talk rugby unless you ask me. It's been the same ever since.

"It's been great, and we do talk rugby every now and again."

It is an insight into the family life of a man who has become one of the most admired figures in British sport, not only for his extraordinary achievements on the rugby field but for his tireless fundraising efforts in support of those living with Motor Neurone Disease.

Sinfield's remarkable challenges have been inspired by his great friend and former Leeds team-mate Rob Burrow, who died in June 2024 after living with the condition.

His latest endeavour saw him run from Hull, visiting all 12 English top-flight rugby league clubs along the way, before arriving at Old Trafford for the Grand Final.

The route had been planned almost a year earlier, in November 2025, with Sinfield determined to celebrate Burrow's legacy by travelling through the rugby league heartlands where his former team-mate had enjoyed so much success.

But what he could never have anticipated was that his own son would be playing in the showpiece match on the very evening he completed the challenge.

"If Carlsberg did Saturdays, we got one!" Sinfield joked. "You couldn't have written that it'd be those two teams that ended up in the final.

"You'd have gone with Wigan, Leeds. Warrington might have been in your top four or five choices. You wouldn't have picked Wakefield. Not just yet."

'Jack's always been judged unfairly'

Having spent the early part of his career at Leeds Rhinos, where his father established himself as one of the greatest players in the club's history, young half-back Jack has inevitably faced comparisons with his old man.

And while Sinfield is immensely proud of what his son has achieved, he hopes that winning a Grand Final in his own right will finally allow Jack to be judged entirely on his own merits.

"We got to sit in the stands and watch it play out, which is pretty special," he said.

"He's lived with having a famous dad, if you like, all this time, and he doesn't know any different. However, he's always been judged by that, unfairly.

"Now, he's on his own path because he's won his own Grand Final and the monkey's off his back, and hopefully the reference to me is now gone, and he can just go and do what he needs to do, which is lovely."

There was also a touching moment between father and son shortly before the match, when their paths crossed inside Old Trafford as Sir Kevin prepared to bring the trophy onto the pitch.

Despite the magnitude of the occasion, it was another opportunity for the pair to share a moment together before Jack went out to make history.

"I spoke to him on the day, I got to see him," Sinfield recalled.

"We were waiting in the tunnel right at the top just before we brought the trophy on, and he'd just finished warm-up and came up, and I spoke to him, which was lovely."

It highlights perhaps the most revealing aspect of their relationship. Because for all his achievements and experience, Sir Kevin has never wanted to be the person constantly telling Jack how to play rugby - he has simply wanted to be his dad.