BY JOHN DAVIDSON
St Helens have yet to lose a game this season and are the reigning Women’s Super League champions and current Challenge Cup holders, but Lois Forsell insists Leeds can knock them off this weekend.
Saints and the Rhinos will meet on Saturday at Elland Road in the Challenge Cup final. St Helens have won three from three in Super League in 2022, and last year beat arch rivals 28-0 in the grand final at Headingley.
The Merseyside outfit have looked almost unbeatable in the past 18 months, though Leeds coach Forsell feels her team has the talent to upset them.
“They’ve been really good,” she told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“They had a great season last year and we struggled last year, in terms of where we’re at as a squad. It was my first year in coaching the girls and we had a lot of injuries.
“I think they had a great year but it’s our opportunity to go out there this year and put in some good performances and challenge to win games like this weekend. We’re not there just to compete, we’re going there to win.
“That’s what we’re going to do.”
Leeds won the 2019 Super League, with the 2020 season cancelled because of Covid.
St Helens have taken the mantle off the Rhinos as the best women’s side in the UK since then, but Forsell says her players are on the rise again after changes in their squad.
“We’ve had a transitional period and we always knew that was going to happen,” she admits.
“Obviously we had the likes of Char Booth going to Australia, Danika Priim retiring last year, but with all that happening we’ve brought in some new players.
“We’ve brought Georgia Roche in, and that was a massive coup for us. Emma Lumley who’s been featuring in our forwards, so we’ve recruited well.
“But we’ve also welcomed players back like Dannielle Anderson, who was missing through injury. Last year was tough for us, we did it tough and in the grand final we didn’t have our full squad available for selection.
“Where as this weekend we should have near on, or near, perfect. So that makes a big difference.”
The women’s cup final will be played at Elland Road, as part of a Cup triple header with the men’s semi finals of Wigan vs St Helens and Huddersfield vs Hull KR following it. All three matches will be televised by the BBC.
Having home advantage could be a boost for the Rhinos, according to Forsell.
“With it being in Leeds you’d like to think a lot of Leeds fans will come out,” she says.
“Hopefully we get a lot of people to watch it. Then obviously with the Wigan vs Saints game after it, hopefully some Saints fans come early and catch it and support their women’s team as well.
“Hopefully we top the attendance of the last couple of years when we’ve played finals at Headingley or at Leigh.
“We want a big crowd, we just want to expose the game to more and more fans. With it being on the BBC it’s another great opportunity to do that. It’s great.
“It’s definitely a home advantage with the final being in Leeds, with less travel, but with a stadium as big as this it’s going to be massively different for both teams and it’s one of the biggest stages we’ve ever played on.”