RFL Women's Super 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 2018 season being contested by seven teams playing home and away against each other with subsequent play-offs and a grand final.

History

2014–2016: Background

The first women's competition that was set up was the Women's Rugby League Championship, set up in 2014. It was mostly made up of community clubs with only Hunslet, Featherstone Rovers and Rochdale Hornets being professional clubs with a women's team. The league had a very low profile and only ran for three years until the Women's Super League was formed in 2017.

2017–2019: Foundations

To give the sport a bigger profile, the Super League name used by the men's game was adopted in 2017. The new league was still made up of community clubs but more professional clubs entered a women's team, notably Bradford Bulls took over the Bradford Thunderbirds team. The four founding clubs were Bradford Bulls, Castleford Tigers, Featherstone Rovers and Thatto Heath Crusaders.
The league expanded the following year with Leeds, York and Wigan joining while St. Helens took over from Thatto Heath Crusaders. The league was expanded again to eight clubs for 2019 with the addition of Wakefield Trinity Ladies.

2020-present: Expansion

The league continued to grow with Warrington Wolves being elevated from the Championship for the 2020 season. The structure was also slightly changed with the addition of the Shield Final for the bottom 6 clubs to play for.

Clubs

Season structure

Ten teams play each other once, home or away over nine rounds. At the end if the regular season the team finishing top is awarded the League Leaders Shield. The top 4 then playoff for a place in the Grand Final while the bottom six playoff for a place in the Shield Final.

Play-off structure

At the end of the regular season the top four teams play off in two semi-finals with the winners of these matches qualifying for the Grand Final match. The winner of this match is the competition's winner.
CityStadiumYears
ManchesterManchester Regional Arena2017-2018
St HelensTotally Wicked Stadium2019
LeedsHeadingley2020–present

Champions

Results

The Double

In rugby league, the term 'the Double' is referring to the achievement of a club that wins the top division and Challenge Cup in the same season.
ClubWinsWinning years
1 St. Helens12016
2 Bradford Bulls12017
3 Leeds Rhinos12019

The Treble

The Treble refers to the team who wins all three domestic honours on offer during the season; Grand Final, League Leaders' Shield and Challenge Cup. Only St Helens had achieved this feat by the end of 2019 winning all three trophies in 2016

Awards

League Leaders

The League Leaders is awarded to the team finishing the regular season top of Super League.
ClubWinsWinning years
1 Bradford Bulls12017
2 Leeds Rhinos12018
3 Castleford Tigers12019

Woman of Steel award

The Woman of Steel is an annual award for the best player of the season in Super League. It was formed in 2018 to become a part of the Man of Steel Awards at the end of the men's Super League season.

Sponsorship

In August 2019 a sponsorship deal with bookmakers Betfred was announced to start immediately and which will run until the end of the 2021 season.