Peter Smith: League isn’t just a man’s game – and it hasn’t for quite some time

Which player scored a try in a Challenge Cup final and refereed at Wembley on Challenge Cup final day, in the same season? The answer is Caitlin Beevers who starred for Leeds Rhinos when they beat Castleford Tigers to lift the trophy last year and went on to – admittedly on a different day – referee the Year Seven Schools final, the annual Wembley curtain-raiser. Beevers was one of Rhinos’ outstanding players in their debut Women’s Super League season when, as well as winning the cup, they also finished top of the table and reached the Grand Final, only to lose to a stoppage-time penalty against Wigan Warriors. The women’s arm of the sport boasts many such stories, proving rugby league isn’t just a man’s game. Another example is Leeds’ captain Courtney Hill, formerly a top cricketer in her home country of Australia. When her partner moved to England, to play cricket here, she followed, asked Rhinos for a trial and, having not played rugby since school, went on to be one of their most influential players. Women’s Super League returns on Sunday when Rhinos open their campaign against competition newcomers Wakefield Trinity at Sports Park, Weetwood. Other round-one fixtures include Featherstone Rovers at Bradford Bulls and Castleford Tigers visiting York City Knights. Women’s Super League was a success story last year and has expanded this term with Trinity’s inclusion, after they finished top of the Championship in 2018, taking the number of teams to eight. The Rugby Football League (RFL) have recognised the women’s and girls’ game as a way of growing the sport, particularly in terms of increasing the number of players. Their target is to have 21,000 female players by 2021, when the next World Cup will be staged in this country. According to the RFL, the number of girls’ teams increased by 35 per cent last year and there were 38 per cent more women’s sides. That is impressive, but women’s rugby league is nothing new. Stalwarts at amateur clubs have been spreading the gospel for years and noses have been put out of joint by the advent of Super League. Big clubs, previously showing little interest, have come along and stolen not only all the limelight, but the best players as well. It’s understandable why community clubs, playing at Championship level or below, would feel upset, but if the girls’ and women’s game is going to expand, it will be the top clubs who drive that. The important thing is a pathway exists for players from grass roots to the elite level. There’s no reason why young female players in Leeds should not aspire to pulling on the blue and amber jersey, for example. The inclusion of clubs with the resources of Leeds Rhinos can only be positive for women’s rugby league and will eventually pay dividends on the international scene where England have a huge amount of work to do to catch up to Australia and New Zealand. Rhinos’ women’s side have now been incorporated into the wider club – after being part of Leeds’ foundation last year – and the female players have access to the same training facilities, medical treatment and so on. The RFL staged a season’s launch for Women’s Super League, the Championship and League One in Manchester last weekend. In their promotion, they claim the female game is “groundbreaking”, “inspiring” and “amazing”. Talking up the product can’t be a bad thing and the RFL’s enthusiasm is commendable, but perhaps the focus should be on females playing rugby league not being anything out of the ordinary. The standard in Super League may be variable but, at the top end, it is very good and why shouldn’t it be? People like Hill, Beevers and Castleford’s outstanding teenage prospect Georgia Roche – the first Women of Steel – deserve to be recognised as good players in their own right. Clearly the physical aspect of the women’s game isn’t going to match that of the men, but there’s no reason why they can’t display the same level of skill, and matches between two well-matched teams can be equally as competitive. Last year’s Challenge Cup decider and Grand Final were good rugby league games, simple as.