There can be no doubting women’s rugby league has made immeasurable strides in recent years. It is barely seven years since the best players were competing on fields littered with broken glass and in front of the odd dog walker. Yet on Sunday, when the seventh instalment of the Women’s Super League begins, for the first time there will be more than just points on the line.
Last year’s World Cup produced record crowds for the women’s game and a feeling that the sport is on an upward trajectory. That was emphasised within weeks of England’s defeat in the semi-finals with news that Leeds and York, the WSL’s two leading lights, would pay their players in 2023. It is a seismic moment that will become reality when the pair face off at Headingley in a rematch of last year’s Grand Final, which was won by Leeds.
The season opener will be the first part of a double header, followed by the Rhinos’ men taking on Huddersfield Giants at 6pm.
“I’m excited but apprehensive,” the former Leeds and England prop Danika Priim says. “There desperately needs to be some kind of build and legacy from the World Cup.
“There’s no doubt it’s going to be the best season in terms of the calibre of players, the standard of the athletes and the chance to build on the World Cup. But it has to deliver to continue the trajectory we’ve enjoyed in recent years.”
There is devil in the detail of Leeds’ and York’s payment structure. The players from both sides will earn win bonuses rather than a match fee, meaning that only the victors will be paid £50 a player. That fee will rise to about £100 if either side are victorious in the playoffs or Challenge Cup come the business end of the season. While it is certainly still some way even from part-time, it is undoubtedly a step forward.
“Whoever wins on Sunday gets some pay, the first time it’s ever happened in women’s rugby league,” says Priim, now a TV pundit. “They’re going to be on Sky Sports on a massive Easter weekend, which is so important too. The girls don’t want people to think they’re getting paid like the men because we need to understand there’s still a way to go. It’s a great step forward and that £50 could pay for a girl’s travel for the week or help feed their family.
“There’s no doubt we’re moving the right way. And I’m sure the clubs see it that way too and hopefully realise there’s scope to put more money into the game as the year goes on, and we roll into 2024 and towards the World Cup in 2025.”
The growth has already been felt beyond the WSL, with a 200% rise in new teams and participation numbers for girls under 16 since the World Cup.
That will mean more depth as the next World Cup, in France in 2025, approaches. At present, there is a clear gulf between Leeds, York, St Helens and the other nine teams who will compete this year. That cannot be improved overnight, but it is a problem in regards to one-sided games.
“We’re looking for a fourth strong team and then a fifth to really help the development of the game and expose our girls to high-intensity games on a regular basis,” the new England coach, Stuart Barrow, says. “But the increase in player participation at younger ages will reap some rewards long-term. By the time you get to 2025 you’ll have more really strong teams and a significantly bigger player pool to pick from.”
England’s impressive displays in the World Cup did not go unnoticed in Australia, either. Whereas Leeds and York have laid the first foundations towards professionalism in the WSL, the NRLW is predominantly full-time, leading to the expectation some of the best English talent who will be on display, such as Leeds’s Fran Goldthorp and York’s Hollie Dodd, could head out there as early as this year.
“It’s great we’re seeing our best players get attention from those clubs,” Barrow says. “If some of them take that opportunity it can only benefit women’s rugby league in this country moving forwards.”
But in terms of the WSL’s continued growth, investment is crucial and the support from the men’s Super League sides will be on display again this year. Leeds have promised to reinvest any money the women’s side makes back into their WSL team and many more of their games after Sunday’s will be Headingley double-headers alongside their male equivalents.
Professionalism is still be a long way off, but when the WSL’s two best sides square off in front of thousands of fans in Leeds, it certainly will not feel like it. That alone, for a game being played in park fields less than a decade ago, is yet another step in the right direction.
