Barrow Raiders made an impressive start to life in the Women’s Super League last season, but a significant turnover in the playing squad presents a whole new challenge in 2025.
WHEN any key player leaves a side for any reason it’s a blow. But when as many as six do, it could be seen as disastrous, especially when that team is trying to prove that their success the previous year was no fluke.
But that is precisely the position Barrow Raiders find themselves in ahead of the 2025 season – their second in Women’s Super League.
Both captain Jodie Litherland and Michelle Larkin have retired – the latter finally hanging up her boots at the age of 45, while outside backs Emma Hutchinson and Sam Norman will miss the whole year as they go travelling together. Utility player Demi Fisher, who proved so useful in the halves last year, has relocated to Huddersfield so is unable to remain committed to the club. Hannah Sherlock has also moved on due to a change of circumstances not allowing her the time to commit to the club.
All six players have been at the backbone of the squad for many years, so they will of course be missed by coach Amanda Wilkinson and all at the club.
But for Wilkinson, the new challenge these departures now leave the Raiders facing could prove the key to avoiding the dreaded ‘second season syndrome’.
The Raiders somewhat defied expectations in 2024, finishing fifth and pushing a number of the top four teams close on more than one occasion. And Wilkinson is hoping her new look team can do equally as well when the season gets underway in May.
“I believed in the team that got us promoted at the end of 2023 so I didn’t make any changes for last season,” Wilkinson told Rugby League World.
“I felt that we had a good enough team to be in Super League and that helped because the girls knew we had that level of belief in them.
“We backed them and they gave us their all in return.
“I knew we wouldn’t just go up and come straight back down, but if I’m honest I was taken aback by just how well we did. We overachieved my expectations, but that came down to the desire of the girls.
“Of course, they were apprehensive going into their first season in Super League and I could feel that from them, so for us as coaches it was about giving them that belief and confidence.
“It’s ok being the underdog, but it’s hard to break that feeling. As a coach you can give them the fight, but they need that confidence and belief and they got that through their own performances against some of the top teams.
“I was actually a bit shocked when we went into the games at just how close we were to those top teams. We got really close in some of those games and could have even beaten Leeds, York and Wigan, but for a few penalties and some errors, and that gave them a massive boost of confidence. That’s all they were ever lacking.
“But we have got another new challenge now and I have mixed feelings about it.
“It’s all exciting going into Super League for the first time, there are no expectations or pressure on you, so we could just go out there and perform as we did. But it’s a different sort of excitement going into the second year and others know a bit more of what to expect from you and you can find yourselves suffering that second season syndrome.
“So in a way losing the players we have might actually be the best thing that could have happened to us.
“Yes it does mean that the season is going to be tough for us, but we’re not going into it the same as we did last season.
“We have spoken a lot about what we want to be known for this season. We always talk about our DNA, who we are and the culture we have within the squad. All that is going to be different this year because we have a different squad and different group of girls.
“We’re going to have a different style of play as well so the key is recognising all these differences and working with them.
“Emily Stirzaker will take over from Jodie as captain. She’ll be a different sort of captain and will do a fantastic job.
“We are losing a lot of experience and that is always going to be hard to deal with. But as a coach I always love a challenge, and this is another one in rebuilding the squad completely.
“I’m gutted to lose these girls, but we have but got players to step in that are looking for a chance.
“It’s a new start for everyone and I just hope that we’re not losing one or two too many in one go.
“I’d be lying if said I didn’t have that feeling deep within about the challenge we face. But it feels a bit like it did in our first-ever season when first took the job.
“I knew then that I had a good group of players and some great people involved, and I feel that again now.”
As something of an outpost team in what is still a growing area of the game, Barrow doesn’t really enjoy the luxury of being able to sign seasoned professionals or internationals from their Yorkshire or Lancashire-based rivals due to the travel involved and the resources available.
Instead, they rely on developing and nurturing potential stars of the future from the Cumbria region. They have had success from running open trials in the past and this will continue again this year, with the club also investing time and resources lower down the age scale as well.
“Being up in Cumbria, we don’t have the benefit of being able to attract players from elsewhere because not many people are going to want to travel for two hours or more just to train and play rugby league,” added Wilkinson, who is one of the most qualified coaches in the semi-pro game after recently achieving Level 4 status as part of the RFL’s Coach Programme. “We don’t really have the facilities here either to attract them, so without blowing my own trumpet, the biggest thing that could attract them to Barrow would be me. But as good as any coach is, players are going to want everything else that comes in the package elsewhere and we just can’t offer them things other clubs can.
“So we have to look locally, and it’s down to me to attract local players who want to play for the club.
“We have started our new P2P (Pathway to Performance) programme with 15 and 16-year-olds, and that’s going really well. We didn’t know how well that would take off but we’ve got some really good players involved there.
“We have also got our Under 19s. We don’t have massive numbers there, but they are training really well and are joining the Super League squad for some sessions. So we are developing local talent through that age group as well.
“It is exciting to bring more and more new players into the game and the future is looking good.
“With all the players last season being from Cumbria it shows that the talent to compete at the highest level is there and that we do a good job of nurturing it.”
The new-look Raiders outfit will get their first competitive outing when the Challenge Cup kicks off in April. There they will face group games against Wigan Warriors and London Broncos, with the aim of qualifying for the knockout stages ahead of the league campaign getting underway in mid-May.
The start of the season has not been kind to Barrow, with successive away trips to newly-promoted Leigh Leopards, Wigan and Warrington Wolves, but for Wilkinson all that does is add to what is already another new challenge for her and her squad.
“I’m not a massive believer in friendlies so the Challenge Cup games will be important in our preparation for the league season,” added Wilkinson.
“Preparing for the season is a long process and while friendlies are a way of seeing what you’ve got and how the team plays, it’s more important for me to prepare my players to play games.
“So we won’t have loads of friendlies because there are other ways to prepare for the season.
“One of our aims for this year was to make the next stage in the Challenge Cup – we don’t want to be that side that never makes it past the group stage.
“We might need to reassess that now with the changes we’ve made, so we will look and see what we think is realistic with what we’ve got.
“But those games are usually less pressured. Yes, we want to get to the next level but those games will put us in a good position ahead of league games.
“It’s an ugly start to the league season for us, We’d have much preferred to play more of the top teams and test ourselves early on, and it’s always good to get a home fixture to try and build a bit of something. But it’s not to be and we know it will be tough.
“Leigh would probably have been our last choice as a first game. I don’t know why, but there has always been a bit of a rivalry between us and them, and I think they’re going to be a really good team this year.
“They will be equally as good as we were last year and they could be the ones to turn some heads in 2024.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 505 (February 2025)
