It’s fair to say Wigan Warriors, Bradford Bulls, Leeds Rhinos and St Helens have been trailblazers in the world of rugby league since the inception of the Women’s Super League in 2017.
Bradford won the inaugural competition, but Wigan were victorious in last season’s Grand Final, a game played out at the Manchester Regional Arena in front of 1,189.
Support for the women’s game is still relatively small, but as the quality continues to improve so does participation and the game is growing at a rapid rate.
This season 24 teams are due to kick off the 2019 season in April across three leagues, more than ever before.
A year on from making their brave step into the league, Hull FC Ladies are preparing to start their second campaign in the Women’s Championship and they do so under a new head coach, with Sam French taking the reins.
The Black and Whites, like most teams, are still in the early stages of their development, but in their first campaign they picked up seven wins to finish fifth.
However, after creating club history last season, the Girlie Birds are now looking to progress under French this season and make a giant leap towards showing they are worthy of being able to compete against the nation’s best.
“It’s exciting times for it,” French told the Mail. “We have a group of committed players who are willing to play, that’s what you want. You don’t want people turning up and not wanting to play.
“There is a gap between us and the Super League sides still. We would love to get there eventually but it’s about one step at a time.
“It’s still early days, we’re going to put a plan in place and see where we want to be in the next few years with it.
“This year it’ll be about showing what this group are capable of doing and start to throw the ball around and show people who come to watch that the women’s game isn’t different to the men’s – it can be just as exciting.
“Our overall aim is to build a club and a team that can compete in the Women’s Super League.”
With point proving at the top of the FC’s list of priorities this season, they will have been delighted to learn that they have the opportunity to test themselves against the league’s best on the opening day of the season.
Hull will host last season’s Championship winners Stanningley in their first outing before going on to play 13 more fixtures in a league that has been bolstered by the introduction of Huddersfield Giants and Warrington Wolves this year.
The season is still a month away, with April 7 the official start date, but already French is anticipating an extremely competitive division.
“In the Championship the matches are all difficult, they’re all close with no easy games and the skill level is very good,” he added.
“The standard is growing and there are more girls coming into the game. In the Championship we now have Warrington and Huddersfield so teams are slowly trying to jump on it.
“Training has been spot on so far. You’re always going to get the commitment side of it with the fact that they all work but we’re getting good numbers and the girls understand what we’re doing and how we want to play and it’s encouraging putting it all together now at the back of pre-season with the year starting.”
The English league is still waiting for its first professional women’s rugby league outfit, but coaching is far from being just a hobby for French, who spends his days working within the Hull FC Community Foundation.
However, while the 23-year-old’s coaching experience is limited so far, he is setting his career ambitions high
“It’s not necessarily a different challenge, it’s about development and this is the same, it’s about seeing their game change and grow and showing people how good we can play.
“I’m looking at it as part of my coaching development to take this on and looking at the coaching pathway for me into a professional environment.
“What I do is obviously professional-based in terms of working through the club and I enjoy what I’m doing, it’s all about learning new ideas and building up my knowledge as a coach and reputation-wise it’s good to get my name out.
“I have the likes of Radders or Gaz (Ellis) that I can go to if I need help, if I have any queries coaching wise or I need a little bit of knowledge.”
FC won’t be the only local side this season, though, with Hull KR introducing a ladies’ team into League One this season, the league below the Black and Whites.
It is perhaps too early for a rivalry to develop such as the one that dominates the landscape in the men’s game, but the development of a second side in the city promises to give local women more opportunities in the sport.
Hull is known as a hotbed for talent across rugby league, and French sees no reason why that cannot eventually transcend gender.
“I think it’s great they’ve put the investment into the girl’s side of it.
“You can see by the Super League at the minute and the Championship which is growing and the PR that is going into it. It’s only going to grow, especially with the World Cup coming up.
“There’s a lot of time that has gone into the women’s game. It’s giving them the opportunities the men’s and boy’s game have.
“Hull KR are running a women’s team too now and that shows there are people available who are wanting to do it, which is great. The girls can achieve anything they want to achieve in this game.”
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