Warrington Wolves Women Explained

Clubname:Warrington Wolves
Fullname:Warrington Wolves Rugby League Football Club
Colours: Yellow, Blue and White
Web:Warrington Wolves
Ground:Victoria Park, Warrington
Position:5th (Super League: Group 1)
Current:2024 RFL Women's Super League
Cup1:Championship
Cup1titles:1
Cup1years:2019
Cup2:Super League Shield
Cup2titles:1
Cup2years:2022

The Warrington Wolves Women are the women's rugby league team of Warrington Wolves in Warrington, Cheshire, England. They compete in the RFL Women's Super League, playing their home games at Victoria Park and some games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium; the home of the men's team.

History

In November 2018, it was announced that Warrington Wolves were to launch a women's team and that team trials had been organised to take place in December.[1] There had previously been a Warrington Wolves women's team established in 2002 who also who used Victoria Park.[2] In 2004, the team competed in the Women's League Division Three[2] and won the Plate Final of the Women's Amateur Rugby League Association in 2007.[3] [4] In 2008, they joined the Women's Rugby League Conference, winning the Championship Final in 2011, and then also competing in the 2012 Women's Challenge Cup.[2] [5] [6] Warrington also had girls' teams for several age groups;[7] Emily Rudge had been with the U16s when selected for the England squad for the 2008 World Cup.[8] In July 2009, five Warrington players, including Rudge and Jodie Cunningham, were named in the England squad for the two-test series against France.[9]

The community coach at Warrington, Lee Westwood, said in 2018 that the women's team would "provide a pathway for all girls from 11 years old to open age".[1] For their first season the team entered the Championship with the aim of joining the Super League in 2020.[1] Despite losing their first match of the season 28–20 at Barrow,[10] Warrington defeated Widnes 40–10 the following week[11] and went on to finish top of the Championship.[12] A 36–4 victory over Huddersfield Giants in the play-off semi-final saw Warrington progress to the final on 12 October in which they defeated Barrow 40–4 to take the Championship title.[13] [14] Their top four finish in the league meant that they, along with Huddersfield, were accepted into the Super League for the following season.[15] In the Challenge Cup Warrington reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by eventual winners Leeds Rhinos.[16]

In 2020, Warrington were to face Barrow again, this time in the second round of the Challenge Cup.[17] However, a week before the match the RFL suspended all competitions.[18] The cancellation of the women's 2020 season was announced in August.[19] This included the Super League in which Warrington had been due to make their debut on 29 March against Wigan Warriors.[20] The following season, on 18 April 2021, Warrington played their first Super League game and lost 52–8 to Wigan.[21] Their first win, 44–8 over Huddersfield, came in Round 5 of the season.[22] After finishing the regular season in 8th place, Warrington took part in the Shield competition, but lost 30–26 to Huddersfield after golden point extra time in the semi-final[23] Warrington reached the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup but lost 6–26 to Castleford Tigers.[24]

In 2022, there was a new format for the Challenge Cup that introduced a group stage from which Warrington advanced to the quarter-finals where they were defeated by Leeds.[25] [26] The structure of the Super League season also changed and Warrington were placed in Group 2 of the competition.[27] Warrington finished the regular season top of their group by winning all 12 matches including a 102–0 victory over Wakefield Trinity.[28] [29] Warrington then claimed the Shield by winning 72–0 over Bradford Bulls in the semi-final and 34–6 over Featherstone Rovers in the final to earn promotion to Group 1 for the 2023 Super League season.[28] [30] In 2023, Warrington reached the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup for a four successive campaign. Lee Westwood stepped down from his role as head coach at the end of the 2023 season and was succeeded by former player and team captain Armani Sharrock.[31]

Seasons

SeasonLeaguePlay-offsChallenge CupRef.
DivisionPWDLFAPtsPos
2019Championship14130157284261stWon in Final QF[32]
2020Super League
2021Super League820615033448thQF<--select options:Women's Super League, 2021, Betfred Womens Super League and Betfred Womens Super League Shield-->
Super League Shield42021486843rdLost in Semi-final
2022Super League (G2)12120074436241stWon in Shield FinalQF[33]
2023Super League1021712845055thQF[34] [35]
2024Super LeagueQF[36]

Honours

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Warrington Wolves launch women's team . RFL . 21 November 2018 . 23 May 2023.
  2. News: Warrington Wolves women's rugby league team 2008 . Warrington Guardian . 12 January 2021 . 14 March 2024.
  3. Web site: Match Reports . Warrington Ladies . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090405131415/http://www.warringtonladies.btik.com/p_MatchReports.ikml . 5 April 2009.
  4. Web site: Red-letter day beckons for Women's Rugby League . Total Rugby League . 29 March 2018 . 14 March 2024.
  5. Web site: Rugby League: Co-operative Rugby League Conference Women’s Final Day sees Warrington lift the Championship trophy . Healey . Erin . 23 August 2011 . Sport Sister. https://web.archive.org/web/20140831153248/http://www.sportsister.com/2011/08/23/rugby-league-co-operative-rugby-league-conference-womens-final-day-sees-warrington-lift-the-championship-trophy/ . 31 August 2014.
  6. Web site: Warrington Women & Girls . Women's Rugby League . https://web.archive.org/web/20120720052859/http://www.womensrugbyleague.co.uk/club/9710 . 20 July 2012.
  7. Web site: Girls' Rugby League fixtures 9th and 16th March . 4 The Love Of Sport . 8 March 2019 . 24 May 2023.
  8. Web site: England Women . England Rugby League . https://web.archive.org/web/20081007232905/http://www.englandrl.co.uk:80/englandrl.php?id=443 . 7 October 2008.
  9. Web site: England name young squad for women's internationals . Sport Focus . 14 July 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211025204848/http://www.sportfocus.com/newspub/story.cfm?id=34293 . 25 October 2021.
  10. Web site: Women's Rugby League round-up . RFL . 8 April 2019 . 23 May 2023.
  11. Web site: Women's Rugby League Round-Up . RFL . 15 April 2019 . 23 May 2023.
  12. Web site: Betfred Women's Super League Grand Final Preview . RFL . 11 October 2019 . 23 May 2023.
  13. Web site: Another late Leeds show sets up Challenge Cup Final rematch . RFL . 6 October 2019 . 23 May 2023.
  14. Web site: Warrington and Keighley triumph on Women's Finals Day . RFL . 12 October 2019 . 23 May 2023.
  15. Web site: Giants and Wolves to join Betfred Women's Super League in 2020 . RFL . 8 November 2019 . 23 May 2023.
  16. Web site: Coral Women's Challenge Cup Quarter Final Round-Up . RFL . 23 June 2019 . 23 May 2023.
  17. Web site: Hull KR to host Hull FC in Coral Women's Challenge Cup second round . RFL . 8 March 2020 . 23 May 2023.
  18. Web site: RFL and Super League joint statement on season suspension . RFL . 16 March 2020 . 23 May 2023.
  19. Web site: Covid-19 forces cancellation of Women's Competitions in 2020 . RFL . 27 August 2020 . 23 May 2023.
  20. Web site: 2020 Betfred Women's Super League fixtures released . RFL . 12 January 2020 . 23 May 2023.
  21. Web site: Wilson scores 28 points in impressive Wigan win . RFL . 18 April 2021 . 23 May 2023.
  22. Web site: Betfred Women's Super League round-up . RFL . 14 June 2021 . 23 May 2023.
  23. Web site: Giants Women reach final in golden point thriller . Huddersfield Giants . 30 September 2021 . 23 May 2023.
  24. Web site: York claim Cup semi-final spot . RFL . 9 May 2021 . 23 May 2023.
  25. Web site: A new format, a new final venue - Why we should look forward to the 2022 Women's Challenge Cup . Rugby League News . 11 December 2021 . 23 May 2023.
  26. Web site: England Watch Women - Challenge Cup quarter-finals . RFL . 11 April 2022 . 23 May 2023.
  27. Web site: Betfred Women's Super League Fixtures 2022 . RFL . 18 January 2022 . 23 May 2023.
  28. Web site: Betfred Women's Super League Round-Up September 12 . RFL . 12 September 2023 . 23 May 2023.
  29. Web site: Betfred Women's Super League Round-Up July 31 . RFL . 1 August 2023 . 23 May 2023.
  30. Web site: Betfred Women's Super League Grand Final and Shield Final Round-Up . RFL . 20 September 2022 . 23 May 2023.
  31. Web site: Armani Sharrock named new Women's Head Coach . Warrington Wolves . 4 October 2023 . 8 November 2023.
  32. Web site: Match Centre . RFL . 26 September 2023.
  33. Web site: Betfred Women's Super League Table . BBC Sport . 28 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221023100559/https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-league/womens-super-league/table . 23 October 2022.
  34. Web site: Betfred Women's Super League Table . BBC Sport . 10 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230911132817/https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-league/womens-super-league/table . 11 September 2023.
  35. Web site: Women's Challenge Cup: Holders St Helens, Wigan Warriors and York Valkyrie seal quarter-final wins . BBC Sport . 18 June 2023 . 18 June 2023.
  36. Web site: Men's and Women's Quarter-Finals Review & Semi-Finals confirmed Betfred Challenge Cup . RFL . 14 April 2024 . 15 April 2024.

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