RUGBY LEAGUE as a northern sport is a moniker that is both the strength and weakness of our game.
With a stranglehold over the M62 corridor, teams are close by with little travel needed between clubs.
That being said, being overwhelmingly confined to one part of the country has done little to expand the sport beyond its current borders.
But, one team which is determined to prove that wrong is the Anglian Vipers, who are set to make their debut in the East Rugby League competition this season.
Involved in the club is Stacey Hargrave-Walker, who is now setting up a women’s team alongside the men’s
“I first heard about the Vipers on a Facebook group. It popped up on the Wymondham rugby union page and I thought ‘I wonder if they do a women’s team as well’,” Hargrave-Walker told BBC Radio Suffolk.
“It’s been just for the men till I reached out. I managed to pull some of the Wymondham Wasps along with me and tried to build on it.
“Last season we only got a few to training. However, this season things are changing – we’ve got a WhatsApp group together of around 28 to 30 girls, which is really good, they come from all over, Bury St Edmunds, Diss, Ipswich, Norwich, Wymondham and we’ve got a few [friendly] games ahead of us that are all booked in.”
Hargrave-Walker also explained how having the men and women training together has helped.
“I found rugby league when I joined the Navy in 2012. I was a rugby union girl then but I just loved it. That’s where my interest really started and it’s grown and grown,” Hargrave-Walker continued.
“Some of the men have commented that the women have actually done better in training than them,” she continued.
“That’s always a plus. Having the men and women training together, it gives a sense that everyone is on the same page, no-one is higher, no-one is lower, everyone helps each other.”