After record World Cup crowds, a payment structure and increase in participation, growing the game is next target
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.
