On a shirt placed underneath the rugby league statue at Wembley a fan wrote: "You were a great player, a great man and an even bigger inspiration. We will never forget you."

Burrow's team-mate Jamie Peacock told BBC Sport: "It's about celebrating the good that Rob brought not only to the world of rugby league, but to the world as a whole.

"In his battle with MND the greater world got to be inspired by it."

He added: "Sitting back nearly a week after Rob's passed away, that's the celebration I try to take out of it is the bigger world coming together."

Fellow half-back Kevin Brown praised Burrow's attitude on the field as a player, standing only 5ft 5in against much bigger opposition.

"He was an inspiration for any little player because he punched above his weight," he told BBC Sport.

"When people talk about toughness they normally talk about the big men, but Rob Burrow was as tough as anyone and he'd scare the life out of the big men because often he'd duck underneath and go through the other side."