Club information | |
---|---|
Full name | Leeds Rhinos Women Rugby League Football Club |
Nickname(s) | The Rhinos |
Short name | Leeds |
Colours | Blue and Amber |
Founded | 2017 |
Website | therhinos.co.uk |
Current details | |
Ground(s) |
|
Coach | Lois Forsell |
Captain | Hanna Butcher |
Competition | Women's Super League |
2023 | 3rd |
Current season | |
Records | |
Women's Super League | 2 (2019, 2022) |
Women's Challenge Cups | 2 (2018, 2019) |
League Leaders Shield | 1 (2018) |
Leeds Rhinos Women are a rugby league team based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team is part of the Leeds Rhinos club and plays in the Women's Super League.
They were the RFL Women's Super League champions in 2019 and 2022, and from 2023 they became the first semi-professional women's rugby league team in the UK. [1]
The team was formed in September 2017 with the aid of the Leeds Rhinos Foundation. [2] In December 2017 Rhino's forward, Adam Cuthbertson was appointed coach and Lois Forsell was named as captain in March 2018. [3] [4]
In the team's first season, they won the Women's Challenge Cup beating Castleford Tigers 20–14 in the final, at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, on 4 August 2018. [5]
They successfully retained their title, after beating Castleford Tigers 16–10 in the final, at the University of Bolton Stadium, on 28 July 2019; in a repeat of the 2018 final. [6] In October they beat Castleford again 20–12 to win the Grand Final. [7]
Lois Forsell missed the 2019 season and was succeeded as captain by Courtney Winfield-Hill. [8] Forsell succeeded Cuthbertson as coach in February 2020. [9]
Winfield-Hill retired at the end of the 2022 season and was succeeded as captain by Hanna Butcher. [10]
Season | League | Play-offs | Challenge Cup | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | |||
2018 | Super League | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 438 | 139 | 20 | 1st | Lost in Grand Final | W |
2019 | Super League | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 410 | 151 | 21 | 3rd | Won in Grand Final | W |
2020 | Super League | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||||
2021 | Super League | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 434 | 82 | 22 | 2nd | Lost in Grand Final | SF |
2022 | Super League | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 320 | 116 | 10 | 3rd | Won in Grand Final | RU |
2023 | Super League | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 396 | 136 | 13 | 3rd | Lost in Grand Final | RU |
2024 | Super League | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 528 | 122 | 22 | 2nd | Lost in semi-final | RU |
The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league.
The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road and compete in the Super League, the top flight of the British rugby league system.
Kevin Sinfield is an English rugby union coach, currently the skills and kicking coach for the England national team. He is a former professional rugby league player for Leeds Rhinos, England and Great Britain. His usual position was loose forward, although he played stand-off and hooker on occasion.
Daniel Phillip McGuire is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who is the head coach of the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
Adam Cuthbertson is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a loose forward, prop and second-row forward for the Mackay Cutters in the Queensland Cup.
Michael Shenton is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who is currently the assistant coach for Wakefield Trinity in the RFL Championship.
Paul McShane is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker or scrum-half for the York Knights in the RFL Championship. He has represented England at international level, and was the recipient of the Man of Steel award in 2020.
Luke Gale is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as scrum-half or stand-off for Wakefield Trinity in the RFL Championship. Gale has played for the England Knights and England at international level.
Courtney Winfield-Hill is an Australian-born sportswoman who formerly played rugby league for England and Leeds Rhinos. Originally Winfield-Hill played cricket as a pace bowler for Queensland Fire and Brisbane Heat, before moving sports and countries to play rugby league.
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 Castleford Tigers Women are a female rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. Nicknamed the Tigresses, the club formed in 2016 and in 2017 were one of the four teams that participated in the inaugural season of the Women's Super League, the top-level Women's rugby league club competition in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 they compete in the Northern Women's Championship.
The 2018 RFL Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for by 21 teams during the summer of 2018. The competition was won by Leeds Rhinos who beat Castleford Tigers 20–14 in the final at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on 4 August 2018.
Lois Forsell is a rugby league football coach and former player. She is currently the head coach of Leeds Rhinos Women. During her playing career, she played as a hooker. Forsell has played for Hunslet Women, Bradford Bulls Women, and finished her career at Leeds Rhinos Women in the RFL Women's Super League. She has represented England and Yorkshire at international and intercounty level.
The Woman of Steel is an award in English rugby league. It is awarded to the player of the year in the Women's Super League; the winner is determined by a poll of the players in the Women's Super League.
The 2019 RFL Women's Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for by 27 teams during the summer of 2019. The competition was sponsored by Coral who are also the sponsor of the men's Challenge Cup. Defending their title where Leeds Rhinos who beat Castleford Tigers 20–14 in the final at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on 4 August 2018.
Danika Priim is a retired rugby league player from Leeds. She has previously played for Stanningley and Bradford Bulls Women before playing for her home town team, Leeds Rhinos Women in the Women's Super League between 2018 and 2021. Priim played at prop forward. Priim played at international level for England from 2015 with her last international appearance being in 2018.
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).
Francesca Goldthorp is an England international dual-code rugby footballer who plays for Loughborough Lightning in the Premiership Women's Rugby primarily as a fullback. Previously she played for Leeds Rhinos in the RFL Women's Super League where she predominantly played at centre or wing.
Hollie-Mae Dodd is an England international rugby league player. Dodd plays for Canberra Raiders in the NRL Women's Premiership having previously played for York Valkyrie and Castleford Tigers in the Women's Super League. Dodd plays as a second-row or a centre.
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.. They are the current Women's Super League champions, after they defeated St. Helens 18–8 in the final to retain the title.