Barrie McDermott earns Leeds Rugby League Hall of Fame honour
Tuesday 16 July 2019 11:31, UK
Barrie McDermott was left humbled after becoming one of the latest club greats to be inducted into the Leeds Rugby League Hall of Fame.
Sky Sports rugby league expert McDermott had the honour bestowed on him along with club record try-scorer Eric Harris, former Leeds captain and coach Syd Hynes, and all-time great winger John Atkinson at a special lunch in Headingley's Emerald Suite on Sunday.
The no-nonsense prop enjoyed a stand-out career with the Rhinos between 1996 and 2005, winning the Challenge Cup in 1999 and Super League Grand Final in 2004, and was overwhelmed to be recognised for his contributions at Leeds.
"I feel very humbled to accept it," McDermott said. "I'm not sure what I've done to deserve it, but I'm doing my best to accept it because I think in the Nineties - 1999 specifically - we had a really good team spirit and we had some magnificent players.
"We won stuff, we lost stuff, but we did it together and we all stuck together. To be part of that into the Noughties with what was the golden generation, I feel very blessed.
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"I was really lucky to pick up loads of knowledge from the players I played with, but I'm overwhelmed - which doesn't happen often."
McDermott, Harris, Hynes and Atkinson join John Holmes, David Ward, Keith McLellan, Lewis Jones, Garry Schofield, Bev Risman, Jeff Stevenson and Joe Thompson in the club's Hall of Fame.
To be eligible for induction, players must have made a minimum of 150 appearances for the club, be deemed to have made an exceptional contribution to rugby in Leeds and have earned representative honours.
The day marked several important anniversaries for Leeds as well, with it being 50 years since the 1969 Championship final win over Castleford, 40 years since the Premiership victory against Bradford Northern, 20 years since the Challenge Cup final win over London Broncos and a decade since the Rhinos won their third Grand Final in a row.
