GEMMA WALSH, the former Great Britain, England and Wigan captain, hopes that new England Stuart Barrow will “wipe the slate clean” for players who fell foul of Craig Richards’ selection policy, which she described as “baffling”.
Barrow is currently the RFL’s head of female pathways and was manager of the squad that played in the World Cup. His new role will be announced soon by the RFL, and his first game in charge will be in April against France in Warrington.
Richards stood down as head coach after England’s semi-final defeat to New Zealand, explaining in the post-match press conference that he had made the decision before the tournament.
Walsh believes that Richards made several selection errors, like leaving York hooker Sinead Peach and St Helens prop Chantelle Crowl at home, and dropping the in-form Danielle Anderson and Hollie Dodd during the competition.
“We need a fresh start, and hopefully the new coach will wipe the slate clean for players who haven’t got on with Craig,” said Walsh.
“He upset a lot of people in the time he did the job, including some in the current squad and some who were overlooked.
“Sinead Peach and Faye Gaskin, although she did later get injured, struggled with Craig on the Papua New Guinea tour in 2019, and they haven’t been involved since.
“You’d hope that everything is done on form from now on. Danielle Anderson has been a stand-out prop for Leeds recently and wasn’t picked in the last two games.
“Hollie Dodd had an outstanding World Cup, yet she was left on the bench until well into the second half against New Zealand. It just didn’t make any sense. You could see her class when she came on, but he’d left it too late.
“I watched the ‘Women of Steel’ documentary, and his treatment of Channy Crowl was very poor. The documentary gave an impression of Channy that just isn’t true.
“Craig contradicted himself, saying she was one of the best in the world and a possible England captain – which is a bit of an insult to the current England captain – then he didn’t pick her, which was baffling. He threw her under a bus, and to drop her for missing training two days after her wedding was very poor.
“Hopefully the new coach will get players like that back on board. ”
Walsh had hoped the head-coach role would go to either Lindsay Anfield, who steered York to the Minor Premiership, or Lois Forsell, who led Leeds to the Super League title. Both were unexpected achievements, given how St Helens had dominated the 2021 season.
“Coaching England is a prestigious job and there should have been a process for applications and then interviews to ensure the right person is appointed,” said Walsh, Wigan’s Grand Final-winning captain in 2018.
“I’d have liked to see Lindsay or Lois get the job because they have both been fantastic for their clubs. They played for England, and they know how tough it is against Australia and New Zealand.
“I hope they’ll still be involved.
“I’m not sure where Craig’s appointment came from. I hadn’t heard of him before that.
“When he got the job (after the 2017 World Cup) – and it was the same with Chris Chapman in 2010 – I’m not sure that people were asked to apply. It seems that the same thing has happened again.
“At least Stuart has been involved in the women’s game for some time. Craig had no knowledge of it when he was appointed and admitted last week that he didn’t even watch the 2017 World Cup at the time.”
Walsh put the semi-final defeat down to a number of factors.
“What Craig thinks a team should look like is his opinion, but you can’t play New Zealand with such a small pack,” she pointed out.
“The scheduling didn’t help, because we didn’t have a competitive game in the groups, so it was a huge step up.
“And do we have as many world-class players as we think we do? To be world class, you have to do more than perform in Super League, and too many big names were below par in the semi-final.
“But some did play well. As well as Hollie, Jodie Cunningham was outstanding, Fran Goldthorp had a good game and Vicky Molyneux tried hard and ran really well.
“You can tell Georgia Roche will be an England legend because she has great aspects to her game, but the halfbacks just weren’t taking the ball to New Zealand’s line.
“Maybe they were apprehensive of the New Zealand physicality. But they were playing behind a beaten pack, which again goes back to selection mistakes made by Craig Richards.”
