2021 Women's Super League | |
---|---|
Teams | 10 |
Matches played | 36 |
Points scored | 1,910 |
Champions | ![]() |
League Leaders Shield | ![]() |
Runners-up | ![]() |
Biggest home win | ![]() ![]() (2 May 2021) |
Biggest away win | ![]() ![]() (18 April 2021) |
Woman of Steel | Jodie Cunningham |
The 2021 RFL Women's Super League (also known as the Betfred Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Rugby League Women's Super League for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL).
The title was won by St Helens who beat Leeds Rhinos 28–0 in the Grand Final at Headingley on 10 October. The victory sealed a treble for St Helens as they also won the League Leaders Shield and the Challenge Cup.
The defending champions were Leeds Rhinos who beat Castleford Tigers 20–12 in the 2019 Grand Final on 11 October 2019; the 2020 competition having been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [1] [2]
The league comprised the same ten teams who were due to play in the 2020 competition. The competition started on 18 April 2021. [3] It was originally announced that the first ten rounds of the competition would all be played behind closed doors at just two venues; Victoria Park in Warrington and Weetwood Sports Ground in Leeds, [3] but by round three other venues such as Belle Vue in Wakefield were being used, although all rounds were played as double-headers utilising two venues per round. Part way through the first part of the season Featherstone Rover's Post Office Road and Bradford Bulls' Odsal Stadium were also used to host matches.
The schedule for the season was originally planned for a ten round regular season, after which, the top four teams would then split off into a six-round play-off structure, with each team playing the others home and away. The two teams who finished top of the play-off table would compete in the Grand Final. [4] The six teams that did not make the play-offs will play each other once in the Shield competition. The top four teams after the round-robin phase, would meet in two semi-finals with the two winners playing in the Shield Final. [4]
On 22 July 2021, the RFL announced that, after discussion with all ten teams, the regular season would stop after the nine rounds already played, and all ten teams would then take a two week mid-season break, with the play-off and Shield competitions starting in August. The other change to the play off structure was, instead of the top four teams competing for the grand final, it would now be competed by five teams rather than four and six. The change was made to allow teams to respond to ongoing issues connected with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and injuries sustained during the first part of the season. [5]
For the first time since the inception of the league, regular games were broadcast live, with one game from each round being shown on Twitch. [6]
Leeds Rhinos ended the regular season unbeaten to top the table and were joined in the play-offs by St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Castleford Tigers and York City Knights.
In the play-offs it was St Helens who went unbeaten to win the League Leaders Shield and home advantage in the semi-finals. Leeds finished second to take the other home advantage spot having forfeited the match against St Helens. Both teams won their semi-finals to set up a Grand final meeting on 10 October. St Helens won the final 28–0 o lift the trophy for the first time.
The Shield competition it was Featherstone Rovers who managed to go unbeaten winning all four games to secure home advantage in the semi-finals, Huddersfield Giants finished second. Featherstone beat Bradford Bulls to go through to the Shield final with Huddersfield beating Warrington after three 5-minute periods of golden point extra time to qualify for the final. Huddersfield took the Shield beating Featherstone 24–22. [7]
Like all matches conducted under RFL governance, matches can be forfeited if clubs are unable for fulfil fixtures. Under the RFL operational rules, forfeited matches are treated as a 24–0 victory for the non-forfeiting team. For 2021 the RFL's COVID-19 protocols apply to the league. If a club has seven or more players stood down due to either; positive tests or self-isolating, due to close contact, then the club can request a postponement of a match. No matches were affected by COVID until round 5, when the match between St Helens and Wigan was postponed, due to St Helens having more than seven players unavailable due to self-isolation.
In round 6, St Helens had some players available after self-isolation, but due to injuries, they could not get a squad together to play York, and as the number of players missing due to COVID was less than seven, St Helens had to forfeit the fixture. [8] York were awarded a second fixture when their round 7 opponents Bradford forfeited the match, due to injuries and unavailability of players. [9]
Wakefield were forced to forfeit their round 9 match against St Helens after informing the RFL that due to COVID-19 and selection issues they would be unable to raise a team. [10]
During the play-offs Leeds forfeited the game against St Helens after being unable to raise a team. [11]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PP | Pts | PCT | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 364 | 38 | 957.9 | 14 | 100.00 | Play-offs |
2 | ![]() | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 370 | 36 | 1,027.8 | 12 | 85.71 | |
3 | ![]() | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 226 | 76 | 297.4 | 10 | 71.43 | |
4 | ![]() | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 198 | 106 | 186.8 | 10 | 71.43 | |
5 | ![]() | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 166 | 96 | 172.9 | 8 | 66.67 | |
6 | ![]() | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 154 | 308 | 50.0 | 6 | 37.50 | Shield |
7 | ![]() | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 104 | 288 | 36.1 | 4 | 28.57 | |
8 | ![]() | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 150 | 334 | 44.9 | 4 | 25.00 | |
9 | ![]() | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 128 | 294 | 43.5 | 4 | 25.00 | |
10 | ![]() | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 50 | 334 | 15.0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PP | Pts | PCT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 158 | 6 | 2,633.3 | 8 | 100.00 | League Leaders' Shield & play-off semi-final |
2 | ![]() | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 44 | 159.1 | 6 | 75.00 | Play-off semi-final |
3 | ![]() | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 66 | 78.8 | 4 | 50.00 | |
4 | ![]() | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 112 | 32.1 | 2 | 25.00 | |
5 | ![]() | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 22 | 110 | 20.0 | 0 | 0.00 |
The Super League is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of which ten are from Northern England, reflecting the sport's geographic heartland within the UK, one from London and one from southern France.
The 2018 RFL Women's Super League was the second season of the rugby league Women's Super League for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League. The grand final was won by Wigan Warriors Women, who beat Leeds Rhinos Women 18–16 at the Grand Final at the Manchester Regional Arena. Wigan finished second to League Leaders Shield winners Leeds in the regular season.
The Rugby Football League Women's Super League is the elite women's rugby league club competition in England. Originally competed between four teams in the 2017 season, the league has developed with the 2023 season being contested by 12 teams playing home and away against each other in two groups with subsequent play-offs and Grand Final. In January 2023 it was announced that the league would be reduced to eight teams in the 2024 season.
The Women's Challenge Cup is a rugby league knockout competition organised by the Rugby Football League. The competition started in 2012.
Super League XXV, known as the 2020 Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th season of the Super League and 126th season of rugby league in Great Britain. St Helens were the reigning champions going into Super League XXV.
The 2020 Super League XXV season is the 25th season of Super League, and 126th season of rugby league in Great Britain. It began on 30 January 2020, and was originally scheduled to end on 10 October 2020. It was to have consisted of 29 regular season games, and four rounds of play-offs, including the Grand Final at Old Trafford. Due to the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is uncertainty surrounding the remaining fixtures, and the league table will be decided on a percentage basis for the first time since 1930. The fixture list was released on 5 November 2019.
The 2020 RFL Women's Super League known as the Betfred Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons was the fourth season of the Rugby League Women's Super League for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL). The competition was cancelled in August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Super League XXVI, known as the 2021 Betfred Super League XXVI for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Super League and 127th season of rugby league in Great Britain.
Super League XXVI was the 2021 season of Super League, and 126th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The season started on 26 March 2021, with all six fixtures taking place behind closed doors, at Headingley. It was originally scheduled to have consisted of 27 regular season games, but changes introduced during the season shortened the competition to 25 rounds and subsequent play-offs. The season finale, the Grand Final, took place at Old Trafford, on 9 October 2021.
The 2021 Challenge Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2021 Betfred Challenge Cup, was the 120th edition of the Challenge Cup, the main rugby league knockout tournament in British rugby league run by the Rugby Football League (RFL). This year's competition will be contested between only the professional clubs.
The fixture list for the first part of the 2021 season was issued on 28 March 2021.
Super League XXVII, known as the 2022 Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th season of the Super League and 128th season of rugby league in Great Britain.
The 2022 RFL Women's Super League was the sixth season of the Rugby League Women's Super League, for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL).
The 2022 Women's Challenge Cup was the 10th staging of the Rugby Football League's cup competition for women's rugby league clubs. The competition was won by St Helens who beat Leeds Rhinos 18–8 in the final at Elland Road on 7 May.
This article details the Leeds Rhinos's rugby league football club's 2022 season. They were coached by Richard Agar until May 2022, Jamie Jones-Buchanan as an interim coach and Rohan Smith from April 2022 onwards. The Rhinos competed in both the 2022 Betfred Super League and the 2022 Challenge Cup.
The York Valkyrie are the women's rugby league team of York RLFC based in York, England. The Valkyrie, who were established in 2016 as the York City Knights Ladies, compete in the Women's Super League and play their home games at York Community Stadium which is also home to the York RLFC men's team, the York Knights, and football club, York City F.C.
The 2023 RFL Women's Super League was the seventh season of the Women's Super League, for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL).
The Featherstone Rovers Women are the women's rugby league team of Featherstone Rovers in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in the RFL Women's Super League and play their home games at Post Office Road which is also home to the men's team.
The Huddersfield Giants Women are the women's rugby league team of Huddersfield Giants from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in the RFL Women's Super League, playing their home games at Laund Hill and double header matches with the men's team at the John Smith's Stadium.
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.