Any concerns that a youthful lack of big game experience may be their undoing at Wembley against a seasoned St Helens side were quickly blown away by Wigan Warriors who claimed their first Women’s Challenge Cup in style.
“You can’t win anything with kids.” At least that’s what ex-footballer-turned-pundit Alan Hansen claimed after a youthful-looking Manchester United lost 3-1 to Aston Villa on the opening day of the 1995-96 Premier League season.
That side contained many of the club’s own products such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers – a group of players often referred to as ‘Fergie’s Fledglings’ at the time and who would go on to be known as ‘The Class of ’92’ after the year they mainly all signed their first contracts with the Old Trafford-based club.
But Hansen was proved wrong, in quite spectacular style, as United lost just five more games that season to finish four points clear of Newcastle United at the top of the table. They also claimed the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Hansen’s beloved Liverpool.
The average age of that double-winning squad almost three decades ago was just over 26 years old, but it was those ‘Fergie Fledglings’ that were at the heart of it, as well as several more successful years at Old Trafford.
Now 20-odd miles to the west of The Theatre of Dreams another revolution based on a club’s youth production is taking place. And once again it is proving Hansen and similar doubters wrong.
Step forward Denis Betts and his Wigan Warriors women’s side, who more than proved the old adage of ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’ when they raced away to a 42-6 win over four-time Challenge Cup winners St Helens at Wembley.
Much was debated in the build-up to the game about Wigan’s youthful side going up against a Saints side full of seasoned England internationals that were looking for a fifth cup success in a row.
While there was only a two-year difference in the average ages of the match day 17s – Wigan at 25.5 years and Saints at 27.5 years – Wigan boasted seven players aged 20 or younger compared to Saints’ two, with St Helens fielding seven players aged over 30. Only substitute Vicky Molyneux (37) and starting forward Holly Speakman (41) fell into that category for Wigan.
With that experience came the fact that Saints knew what it was like to play at Wembley, having featured there for the last two seasons, while Wigan were new to the national stadium, and had not featured in a major final since the 2018 Grand Final.
So, you can perhaps understand why some people outside the club were questioning whether this game, on the biggest of stages, would be a step too far for a Wigan side which had started the season in scintillating form.
But those questions were answered with a resounding ‘no’ by Wigan, who looked assured and confident from kick-off and tries from Megan Williams, Mary Coleman and Emily Veivers put them into an 18-0 half-time lead. When Isabel Rowe scored Wigan’s fourth just after the restart, the game was effectively over.
Saints got one back through Katie Mottershead, but Eva Hunter, Grace Banks and Anna Davies all crossed for Wigan to put the icing on the Warriors’ cake.
Similarly to Manchester United’s success in the mid-to-late 90s, a lot of this Wigan squad have grown up together and have played much of their short careers alongside each other.
After spending time playing against each other as rivals in the community game, teenage half-backs Jenna Foubister and Rowe progressed through the Wigan academy ranks alongside each other. That team also featured fullback and official player of the match Grace Banks, as well as Eva Hunter and Molly Jones. Ellise Derbyshire, who signed from Leigh a couple of years ago, and this year’s new recruit Williams, are also of the same playing generation.
And it is that knowledge of each other and their games that is being demonstrated on the field, as Wigan have started 2025 looking like the team to beat – having already tasted victory over fellow top-four sides Leeds twice, St Helens, and York.
“Me, my second rower Eva, and my winger Ellise, we all went through the England DiSE (Diploma in Sporting Excellence) programme together,” said Jones.
“Meg was in the same year as well so a group of us have all grown up together, and we’ve done that on the pitch as well.
“That means we know each others’ styles, where we all are on the field, and when we’re going to be there and it does make a difference.
“But it is also good to have that bit of older experience out there giving us that wisdom because semi-finals and finals are new to a lot of us, so we have a nice balance to the squad right now.”
But back to Wembley and Saturday, 7th June will live long in the memory of everyone involved at Wigan Warriors, not least for former St Helens star Williams, who latched onto a flat pass from Rowe to break through and open the scoring after 10 minutes.
Having spent her junior career with Thatto Heath Crusaders, 20-year-old Williams progressed through the St Helens Academy set-up and was added to their first team in 2022, making a try-scoring debut from the bench in the 2023 Challenge Cup group game against London Broncos.
She made two more appearances that year, before making more of an impact last season, featuring in 13 of Saints’ 22 games, scoring seven tries. One of the games that she missed was the Challenge Cup Final win over Leeds, but she finally got her chance to run out at Wembley for the first time. And it was an opportunity she took with both hands.
“All of us wanted this and we all worked so hard to get the win,” said Williams, who fully appreciates how much of an influence Betts’ previous Wembley experiences had on the squad.
“We knew we couldn’t turn off for a minute otherwise Saints would come back and have us, so every single one of us played our hearts out on that pitch.
“This is the first time I’ve played against Saints since I moved, and it was unreal that it happened in a final at Wembley, so of course it made the win even sweeter for me.
“But I just wanted to win for this team and these girls because we’ve all worked so hard for it.
“Denis was huge for us going into the final – he’s been here and done it a lot [Betts lifted the famous trophy with Wigan in seven consecutive seasons between 1989 and 1995].
“He just kept telling us before the game to take deep breaths and offering words of wisdom. He told us not to let our emotions overwhelm us and he kept saying focus was the key.
“We took all that on board and focused on the job we had to do and it paid off.”
The game was also memorable for Williams’ St Helens’ supporting family, especially her dad Keith, who like his daughter did something for the first time at Wembley – he donned the cherry and white of Wigan.
“Yeah, he wore a Wigan shirt,” Williams confirmed after the match. “Even when we got to the semi-final he said to me, “I’m not sure I can do it Meg, I’m really not. I’ll support you and the girls, but not sure I can ever wear the shirt.” But there he was walking around in a Wigan shirt, chanting ‘Go Wigan’ – he’s switched around completely.”
But it wasn’t just a memorable day for the Williams family, it was also an experience Remi Wilton won’t forget in a hurry.
After initially moving to the UK to join York Valkyrie in April 2024, one of her first games in the UK was a Challenge Cup semi-final against Saints. A sickness bug had run rampant through the Valkyrie squad that week, leaving them severely depleted for numbers, and York eventually lost 32-2. If former Canberra Raiders captain Wilton had hoped to get a taste of Final action later that year, that was also dented by the fact she was an unused substitute as York got their revenge with an 18-8 Grand Final victory over Saints.
A move to the Warriors over the winter allowed the 28-year-old hooker to dream once more of playing in a major final, and that dream became a reality in London. And to make the success even more memorable, a very special guest was cheering her on from the stands.
“The fact that I can call myself a Challenge Cup winner at Wembley seems surreal,” explained Wilton, who is confident this is only the start of more good times ahead for this Wigan group, who are showing themselves to be something special.
“As an Aussie, I don’t think we really grasp how special the Challenge Cup is and probably can’t fully appreciate what it means as much as the British girls can. There is such a long history in the competition so to be part of what we’ve achieved and be able to lift the cup with girls was pretty special.
“And to be able to do that and look up into stands and see my mum Lynn and her partner Nathan watching on was insane.
“Given the short turnaround between the semi-final and the final, and the fact mum was already coming over for a visit about six weeks after the final anyway, I never thought she’d be here to watch me in it. But the fact that she pulled it off, with the club’s help, meant the world to me.
“This is just the beginning for us, we still weren’t at our best in the final and we know we still have things we need to work on. But it’s exciting to know that we have got something to build on, and I think we can really start to peak before the end of the season.
“The next few years with this group of players is going to be so exciting with young ones coming through. It is crazy how well girls like Jenna, Izzy and Grace are clicking on the field.
“With a bit more game time and a few more experiences like this, they are really going to excel. To play on a stage like Wembley and come away with the win will just boost their confidence going into the rest of the year, when hopefully we will come away with more silverware.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 510 (July 2025)