SEVEN teams will embark, in April, on the 2018 Women’s Super League season, which will again climax in a Grand Final in Manchester, after Top-Four semi-finals, on the same day as the Men’s Betfred Super League decider at Old Trafford.
The Women’s final will be played at the Manchester Arena that afternoon (Saturday 13 October), and the battle to feature on the major stage commences on Sunday 8 April, when Featherstone Rovers host Leeds Rhinos in a curtain-raiser to the Betfred Championship clash between Rovers and Dewsbury Rams.
That match – the only fixture on the opening day of the Women’s Super League campaign – will be followed by three games on Sunday 15 April, when St Helens entertain York City Knights, and 2017 double-winners Bradford Bulls are at home to Leeds Rhinos in a match in which Rhinos founder Lois Forsell will face her former team-mates, Rovers travel to Wigan Warriors in the other fixture.
The other side in the competition, Castleford Tigers, launch their campaign on Sunday 22 April, at York.
Fixtures for the 2018 season are:
Sunday 8 April
Featherstone Rovers v Leeds Rhinos
Sunday 15 April
St Helens v York City Knights; Bradford Bulls v Leeds Rhinos; Wigan Warriors v Featherstone Rovers.
Sunday 22 April
Bradford Bulls v St Helens; York City Knights v Castleford Tigers.
Sunday 29 April
Castleford Tigers v Bradford Bulls; St Helens v Featherstone Rovers; Wigan Warriors v Leeds Rhinos.
Sunday 6 May
Castleford Tigers v Wigan Warriors.
Sunday 13 May
Featherstone Rovers v Castleford Tigers; Bradford Bulls v York City Knights; Wigan Warriors v St Helens.
Sunday 20 May
St Helens v Leeds Rhinos; York City Knights v Featherstone Rovers.
Sunday 27 May
Leeds Rhinos v Castleford Tigers.
Sunday 10 June
Featherstone Rovers v Bradford Bulls; Wigan Warriors v York City Knights.
Sunday 17 June
Castleford Tigers v St Helens; Bradford Bulls v Wigan Warriors; Leeds Rhinos v York City Knights.
Sunday 24 June
York City Knights v St Helens; Leeds Rhinos v Bradford Bulls; Featherstone Rovers v Wigan Warriors.
Sunday 8 July
Leeds Rhinos v Featherstone Rovers; St Helens v Bradford Bulls; Castleford Tigers v York City Knights.
Sunday 12 August
Bradford Bulls v Castleford Tigers; Featherstone Rovers v St Helens; Leeds Rhinos v Wigan Warriors.
Sunday 19 August
Castleford Tigers v Featherstone Rovers; York City Knights v Bradford Bulls; St Helens v Wigan Warriors.
Sunday 9 September
Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers; Leeds Rhinos v St Helens; Featherstone Rovers v York City Knights.
Sunday 16 September
Bradford Bulls v Featherstone Rovers; Castleford Tigers v Leeds Rhinos; York City Knights v Wigan Warriors.
Sunday 30 September
St Helens v Castleford Tigers; Wigan Warriors v Bradford Bulls; York City Knights v Leeds Rhinos.
Sunday 7 October
Top-Four semi-finals
Saturday 13 October
Grand Final (at the Manchester Regional Arena)
