HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS’ head of women’s rugby James Westerby has said that while it’s important his side try to narrow the game between the top four in Super League and the rest, it’s not something that can be rushed.
The Giants finished sixth last year, but they are hoping to improve on that this time round and offer sterner challenges when they face Leeds Rhinos, St Helens, York Valkyrie and Wigan Warriors.
“It is difficult to break into the top four at the minute so we’ve had to do thinks slightly differently,” said Westerby.
“Over the last couple of years we have invested time and effort into our pathways at under 19s and under 15 and 16s to bring our own players through. The player pool is getting bigger so hopefully over time the league will even out a bit more and the game will become a little more level in the next couple of years.
“It’s not a quick fix though and the players in that bigger pool are not ready quite yet to step up so that will take a couple of years. But we do need more competitive games, so it’s part of our job to increase the levels in our team and compete with the top four.
“We’ve had a new strength and conditioner come in this year, we’ve worked them hard in pre-season and we’re now training three times a week rather than twice so we’re feeling ready to give it a go this year.”
