My 2023 Women's Season Summary

[RayCee]

I covered the women's season here. 

https://rugbyl.blogspot.com/2023/10/womens-uk-sl-2023.html

[unapologetic pedant]

On 08/10/2023 at 20:57, RayCee said:

I covered the women's season here. 

https://rugbyl.blogspot.com/2023/10/womens-uk-sl-2023.html

Minor terminological quibble - You say in relation to the Group 2 play-off, "The winner would go to League 1 and the other sides would drop into a regional set-up".

"League 1" is the name they gave the third tier, below the second-tier Championship. This is assuming WSL 1 and WSL 2 are regarded together as one tier. Thatto Heath finished top of League 1 this year.

I hadn't heard about a regional set-up. Do you have any details on its structure? How will it affect Leigh, Salford, Bradford, Castleford?

Looking forward to next year's expanded 8-team WSL. Warrington and Huddersfield have as yet given no indication of plans to bolster their squads through recruitment. All their emphasis is on local youth pathways. Barrow will find it hard to attract new players with top-level experience. And the Featherstone club's stance towards their women's team, after the setback with the men, is anyone's guess.

Hence, there's every reason to expect a considerable gap in standards between top 3/4 and bottom 5/4. Only doubt there being whether Wigan can get alongside York/Leeds/Saints.

[The Blues Ox]

Ive heard rumors of a change up in the leagues but can't find anything definate. At the moment the League 1 playoff final is due to be played next week to decide promotion to the Championship but with SL expanding I can see the top 4 from league 1 been pushed in to the Championship. Again I can't seem to find any details on any of this apart from the expansion planned for SL.

[RayCee]

17 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Minor terminological quibble - You say in relation to the Group 2 play-off, "The winner would go to League 1 and the other sides would drop into a regional set-up".

I hadn't heard about a regional set-up. Do you have any details on its structure? How will it affect Leigh, Salford, Bradford, Castleford?

I'm in bed about to put the light out and read your comment. So I'll revisit what I wrote in the morning. The term League 1 was I'm sure meant to read Group 1 so I've corrected that.

As for the structural change, I read somewhere that Group 1 will continue with two extra teams but Group 2 is to be dissolved and the lower sides will go into a regional setup. I don’t know more than that, hence I didn’t say anymore than that. If I can find out more, I'll let you know but all I can do is scan the 'net for more detail. I think it’s mentioned in the Wiki article about the women's 2023 season. 

Off for some shut eye.

[DoubleD]

Huddersfield are looking to ‘professionalise’ their women’s setup by bringing it under the Giants as opposed to being run by the foundation. They’re also recruiting dedicated back room staff so I would expect them to make improvements and close the gap in due course

[RayCee]

On 14/10/2023 at 03:49, unapologetic pedant said:

I hadn't heard about a regional set-up. Do you have any details on its structure?

I've updated the article with a summary of the women's regional league setup at the end of the article. 

https://rugbyl.blogspot.com/2023/10/womens-uk-sl-2023.html

[Impartial Observer]

On 15/10/2023 at 10:15, DoubleD said:

Huddersfield are looking to ‘professionalise’ their women’s setup by bringing it under the Giants as opposed to being run by the foundation. They’re also recruiting dedicated back room staff so I would expect them to make improvements and close the gap in due course

No dedicated cow bell or is that a step to far?  

[unapologetic pedant]

On 13/10/2023 at 15:49, unapologetic pedant said:

Looking forward to next year's expanded 8-team WSL. 

Dawned on me that "Looking forward to" gives a false impression. Meant to say "Looking at". I actually view this expansion with some ambivalence. Likely scenario is that the top three will continue to strengthen. The rest have no means of recruiting experienced talent. Hence, adding two teams will lead to more blowouts.

 

9 hours ago, RayCee said:

I've updated the article with a summary of the women's regional league setup at the end of the article. 

https://rugbyl.blogspot.com/2023/10/womens-uk-sl-2023.html

So there will be four regions - North, Roses, Midlands, South.

Pretty obvious that Roses will be the de facto second tier.

The premise must be to give everyone a potential route into WSL. South will presumably be much the same as this year's WSL South.

Nottingham Outlaws played in League 1 this year. Who else is going to be in a Midlands group? I think there have been some 9s events with Telford and Coventry involved. All looks a bit precarious. Same for the North group.

[The Blues Ox]

17 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Dawned on me that "Looking forward to" gives a false impression. Meant to say "Looking at". I actually view this expansion with some ambivalence. Likely scenario is that the top three will continue to strengthen. The rest have no means of recruiting experienced talent. Hence, adding two teams will lead to more blowouts.

 

So there will be four regions - North, Roses, Midlands, South.

Pretty obvious that Roses will be the de facto second tier.

The premise must be to give everyone a potential route into WSL. South will presumably be much the same as this year's WSL South.

Nottingham Outlaws played in League 1 this year. Who else is going to be in a Midlands group? I think there have been some 9s events with Telford and Coventry involved. All looks a bit precarious. Same for the North group.

For SL I think we will end up with 2 leagues within 1 and the bottom part of the league should be quite competitive but like you say the gap between the top teams will be huge again especially as we start to see the top talent from the nearlys flow to the top.

Just the mention of Nottingham, they are in a little bit of a tough spot. They did end up making the league 1 playoffs but it was only because Orrell refused to travel to Nottingham for the last game so the RFL threw Orrell out of the playoffs. With the top 4 looking like they will be promoted to a restructured championship it leaves Nottingham who are much better than the remaining teams and too good to play in a merit league that the likes of Fax will find themselves in but not good enough to make the next step up without some serious recruiting.

On Fax I heard a rumor the other day that the Bradford coach maybe going there and taking a number of players with them. I'm not sure where it will leave Bradford as they really struggled to put a team on the field at the back end of last season.

[RigbyLuger]

10 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

On Fax I heard a rumor the other day that the Bradford coach maybe going there and taking a number of players with them. I'm not sure where it will leave Bradford as they really struggled to put a team on the field at the back end of last season.

Not good for Bradford and their IMG points. They've let themselves be overtaken massively.

[The Blues Ox]

11 hours ago, RigbyLuger said:

Not good for Bradford and their IMG points. They've let themselves be overtaken massively.

I don't think it affects the gradings unless they make SL but yeah there are a lot of teams catching them up and looks like Hudds are spending some money on some signings as well now trying to bridge the gap to the top teams.

[The Blues Ox]

I managed to watch the League 1 playoff final on Youtube yesterday before the Tonga V England kick off. A very entertaining game between two very young sides that was only decided in the final minute with Illingworth winning 22-16 to confirm their promotion to the likely restructured Championship. A number of standout performers for both teams with Giants Lois Naidole putting in a good performance for Illingworth, both No.13's had really good games and I think it gives an indication of where the game is headed and the amount of talent that is coming through with the majority of both teams having come through their junior ranks.

[BroncoFan]

13 for Thatto Heath was Megan Williams who is at St Helens and has been named in the Lancashire squad for the upcoming Origin match.

Just on Lois Naidole, I think she is one to watch.

[unapologetic pedant]

On 23/10/2023 at 10:51, The Blues Ox said:

I managed to watch the League 1 playoff final on Youtube yesterday before the Tonga V England kick off. A very entertaining game between two very young sides that was only decided in the final minute with Illingworth winning 22-16 to confirm their promotion to the likely restructured Championship.

I enjoyed this game more than the WSL GF. Or for that matter Jillaroos v Kiwi Ferns last week. Which illustrates the unfortunate dichotomy we sometimes experience in RL between inherent quality and entertainment value. 

Illingworth v Thatto Heath had a lot more space, breaks, half-breaks, last-ditch tackles, offloads, second-phase, etc. In some elite level games, you could count the number of offloads on the fingers of one hand. It's disheartening how seldom ball-carriers even think of keeping the ball alive as they go into contact.

Had a look too at Hull KR v Oulton. Decisive factor here was Rovers big pack. Jack Gibson's dictum of "Why go to the side entrance if you can bang down the front door" is alive and well.

[The Blues Ox]

4 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

I enjoyed this game more than the WSL GF. Or for that matter Jillaroos v Kiwi Ferns last week. Which illustrates the unfortunate dichotomy we sometimes experience in RL between inherent quality and entertainment value. 

Illingworth v Thatto Heath had a lot more space, breaks, half-breaks, last-ditch tackles, offloads, second-phase, etc. In some elite level games, you could count the number of offloads on the fingers of one hand. It's disheartening how seldom ball-carriers even think of keeping the ball alive as they go into contact.

Had a look too at Hull KR v Oulton. Decisive factor here was Rovers big pack. Jack Gibson's dictum of "Why go to the side entrance if you can bang down the front door" is alive and well.

Yeah I think theres a lot less structure at the lower levels which can lead to some great individual and team off the cuff sort of plays and some of the scramble defense on display was fantastic from both teams. Fitness probably plays a huge part as well which always helps when it comes to finding space in attack. I thought it was a very fitting game between the top 2 teams in the division.

I caught a little bit of the Hull Kr V Oulton game and agree regards the big pack, I didn't think there was anything in the 2 games skill wise it was just the size of the players that stood out in comparison and you can tell there is quite a bit of gym work going on there which Thatto or Illingworth may find out on their arrival in the Championship.

[FileyBulldog]

I enjoy the womens games I saw this year (as did my 10 year old daughter) it is what it is, womens rugby. Not trying to be anything it isn't, not being wrongfully promoted as being equal in quality to the mens game like we see all the time with fluffball. It is entertaining, hard fought, hard hitting and long may it continue.

[unapologetic pedant]

On 14/11/2023 at 08:06, FileyBulldog said:

Not trying to be anything it isn't, not being wrongfully promoted as being equal in quality to the mens game like we see all the time with fluffball. It is entertaining, hard fought, hard hitting and long may it continue.

"Equal in quality" does not have to mean "the same in quality". 

Female players and sports should only be evaluated against other female players and sports. Best illustrated by individual races in Athletics or Swimming. Fundamentally disparate male and female human biology is clearly manifest. Straight comparisons of the times recorded by men and women are crass and irrational. It's the separate contests between men or between women that matter and determine standards.

In team spectator sports, entertainment value is a more pertinent criterion and, to a considerable extent, in the eye of the beholder. The Aussies have bespoke rules for NRLW. They may eventually take that approach further and use slightly smaller footballs.

We need a debate in the UK around applications of rules. The RL notion of what constitutes a forward pass or knock-on or obstruction, derived from the crowd culture of the men's game, is stultifying creativity in elite women's RL. With the consequence that defence is the only area of the game where they can truly excel. The skill levels struggle to hold up under the pressure of superior defences. The novelty of seeing women smash into each other will wear off before long.

If officials and coaches agreed on a more permissive RU-style application of these rules, it would give our top players greater freedom to open up and take risks. Less fear of losing possession. More ball movement, intricate patterns, unpredictability, broken-field, off-the-cuff... in short, the kind of attacking RL that can attract new audiences. 

[The Blues Ox]

Just another note on next season, its now heading towards December and clubs are trying to recruit yet they still do not know the structure of the leagues. Ive seen Halifax trying to recruit players and a new head coach but after failing to fulfill their fixtures last season there is a good chance they will find themselves in some sort of merit league.

 

Super League as we know it is looking interesting though with all the changes for players and Saints looking like they could get left behind. I wonder what the reasoning is for them not following other teams and at least looking at going semi pro.

[Stirlin]

8 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

Just another note on next season, its now heading towards December and clubs are trying to recruit yet they still do not know the structure of the leagues. Ive seen Halifax trying to recruit players and a new head coach but after failing to fulfill their fixtures last season there is a good chance they will find themselves in some sort of merit league.

 

Super League as we know it is looking interesting though with all the changes for players and Saints looking like they could get left behind. I wonder what the reasoning is for them not following other teams and at least looking at going semi pro.

Aye , Wigan on the up to give Leeds and York a game . the Rhinos signing Shona and Grace give them a formidable pack to push for next seasons silverware , hoping for another record crowd Vals v Rhinos in the Grand Final wherever it is played.

[BroncoFan]

17 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

Super League as we know it is looking interesting though with all the changes for players and Saints looking like they could get left behind. I wonder what the reasoning is for them not following other teams and at least looking at going semi pro.

Agree 100% about Saints they need to be careful that they don’t fall away but as it stands their squad is still pretty strong especially in the forwards. I rate Lucie Sams as the best forward prospect coming through in the WSL.

Zoe Harris

Leah Burke

Erin Stott

Lucy McColm

Phoebe Hook

Faye Gaskin

Amy Taylor

Channy Crowl

Tara Jones

 Vicky Whitfield 

Paige Travis

Emily Rudge

Jodie Cunningham.

reserves: Georgia Sutherland, Naomi Williams,

Lucie Sams & Darcy Stott.

[unapologetic pedant]

On 15/11/2023 at 16:59, unapologetic pedant said:

The Aussies have bespoke rules for NRLW. 

Been catching up during the off-season with some NRLW games that I didn't watch the whole of when they were played. Seen a couple of game-changing 40-30 kicks. This rule is a no-brainer for women's RL. We really should adopt it pronto for WSL.