Women’s 2021 fixtures confirmed

[josie andrews]

The Betfred Women’s Super League returns on Sunday 18th April and Wigan Warriors’ fixtures have been confirmed.

In association with In Touch productions, will show one live game each week via Twitch.

In the opening round of fixtures, reigning champions Leeds Rhinos entertain York City Knights as part of a double-header featuring a local derby between Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers. Both games will take place behind closed doors at Sport Park Weetwood, Leeds, whilst at Warrington’s Victoria Park the Wolves take on Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls will play St Helens in the other Round 1 fixtures.

Warrington Wolves are one of the newcomers to the expanded, 10-club competition, the other being Huddersfield Giants who will make their Betfred Women’s Super League bow against the Wolves a fortnight later in Round 2.

The repeat of the 2019 Grand Final between Castleford and Leeds is scheduled for Sunday 13th June, when there will be another derby across the Pennines as St Helens face Wigan.

There will be 10 rounds of fixtures during the regular season, with clubs playing each other once before the top four break away to take part in a play-off series with a Grand Final place at stake. The remaining six teams will compete for places in the final of the Betfred Women’s Super League Shield, with both finals taking place at the Emerald Headingley Stadium on Sunday 10th October.

Thomas Brindle, Betfred Women’s Super League General Manager, says: “During the last week we have unveiled the National Lottery as a new commercial partner to the RFL and in particular Women’s and Girls’ Rugby League, we’ve published a new report demonstrating the significant social impacts of Women’s and Girls’ Rugby League – These Girls Can – and we’ve announced that October’s Grand Final will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

“Now, I’m pleased to announce that via Twitch we’ll be showing live action from the Betfred Women’s Super League every week of the regular season, with match coverage repeated later the same week on Our League. We had a really encouraging response when we showed some games on Twitch in 2019 – it takes us to a new, younger audience, with 15m daily active users and 76% of viewers aged 18-49.”

The full fixtures for the regular season are as follows:

Round 1 – Sunday 18th April

Bradford Bulls v St Helens
Castleford Tigers v Featherstone Rovers
Wigan Warriors v Warrington Wolves
Leeds Rhinos v York City Knights

Round 2 – Sunday 2nd May

Wigan Warriors v Bradford Bulls
St Helens v Huddersfield Giants
Featherstone Rovers v Leeds Rhinos
Wakefield Trinity v Castleford Tigers

Round 3 – Sunday 16th May

Bradford Bulls v Huddersfield Giants
Featherstone Rovers v York City Knights
Wakefield Trinity v Leeds Rhinos
Warrington Wolves v St Helens

Round 4 – Sunday 30th May

Huddersfield Giants v Wigan Warriors
Wakefield Trinity v Featherstone Rovers
Warrington Wolves v Bradford Bulls
York City Knights v Castleford Tigers

Round 5 – Sunday 13th June

Castleford Tigers v Leeds Rhinos
Huddersfield Giants v Warrington Wolves
St Helens v Wigan Warriors
Wakefield Trinity v York City Knights

Round 6 – Sunday 20th June

Bradford Bulls v Leeds Rhinos
Huddersfield Giants v Featherstone Rovers
Warrington Wolves v Wakefield Trinity
Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers
York City Knights v St Helens

Round 7 – Sunday 4th July

Bradford Bulls v York City Knights
Castleford Tigers v St Helens
Featherstone Rovers v Wigan Warriors
Leeds Rhinos v Warrington Wolves
Wakefield Trinity v Huddersfield Giants

Round 8 – Sunday 11th July

Bradford Bulls v Wakefield Trinity
Huddersfield Giants v Castleford Tigers
St Helens v Featherstone Rovers
Wigan Warriors v Leeds Rhinos
York City Knights v Warrington Wolves

Round 9 – Sunday 18th July

Bradford Bulls v Featherstone Rovers
Leeds Rhinos v Huddersfield Giants
St Helens v Wakefield Trinity
Warrington Wolves v Castleford Tigers
Wigan Warriors v York City Knights

Round 10 – Sunday 25th July

Castleford Tigers v Bradford Bulls
Featherstone Rovers v Warrington Wolves
Leeds Rhinos v St Helens
Wigan Warriors v Wakefield Trinity
York City Knights v Huddersfield Giants

https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2021/03/ ... confirmed/

[ian.birchall]

Sorry Josie but in these financially stricken times it must be much more sensible for all Superleague Clubs to spend the money going towards this to the establishment and running costs of a full reserve or u21s League to produce players for the first team before the professional League withers away.