Sheffield Eagles are aiming to ruffle a few feathers as they demonstrate their ambition to make it big in women’s rugby league.
IT MIGHT be the teams at the top of Super League that regularly get all the plaudits, but there is one club further down the league structure that is clearly doing things right.
Under the guidance of rugby development officer and former England star Andrea Dobson, Championship side Sheffield Eagles are emerging as one of the up-and-coming clubs in the women’s game.
Having already announced a link-up with reigning Super League champions York Valkyrie that will see the two clubs work together to further develop players, confirmation that the club will financially reward its female players, and plans to run a second team in League Three, there are exciting times ahead for the Eagles women’s side.
“A lot is happening at Sheffield at the moment and hopefully the plans for the new stadium will be approved soon, so it’s a great place to be,” Dobson, who joined the Eagles in 2021 and acted quickly to set up the women’s section, told Rugby League World.
“I know I’m here pushing the women’s game, but we do genuinely have the backing of the club. We sat down with the directors, sponsors and owners and told them what women’s rugby is all about and they’ve really got behind us. Without the backing of a professional club it is very hard for any women’s team to be successful so, to have that level of support almost feels like half of the battle is won.
“We have got a medium-term plan to be up there and competing and the club are investing in that. They are getting behind us and giving us everything we need to compete. The fans turn up to watch as well and now we’re starting to get more sponsors on board so we really are financially viable.
“The ultimate, long-term aim is for Super League, as it is for the men’s team and the wheelchair team. I know it’s an ambitious target, but if everything gets approved for the new stadium, that could be up and running from 2026, so I don’t see why we can’t have a good go at getting into Super League for then. But for now, we just want to be up there and competing in the Championship and have everything in place to make it sustainably successful.
“I’m not saying it will happen, but we could get a bit of money invested into us and do what some clubs have done in paying big fees for England or Knights players to come to us. But I wouldn’t want to do that.
“I’d want to invest into a longer-term development plan to bring our own players through and breed success that way.”
In the meantime, the partnership between the two clubs will allow York coach Lindsay Anfield to give those members of the Valkyrie squad who aren’t featuring in the match day 17 a chance to gain some valuable game time, while the elite players within the Eagles’ set up will also be given numerous opportunities to train with the Super League Grand Final winners.
It is also a chance for good friends and former international teammates Dobson and Anfield to work together again.
As two of the stalwarts of the women’s game, the fact that their clubs are in the position to even create such a partnership shows how far the game has come in recent years.
“What we lack in some key positions is experience,” added Dobson.
“Some players are quite young and quite a lot have come from union, so many are still learning the game.
“Whereas Lindsay has a big squad so she can’t always give everyone game time. It’s a catch-22 situation. The majority of clubs just have one team and have injuries and jobs away from the game to contend with. So they have to have a big enough squad to cover that. In the best-case scenario, the starting 17 or 20 don’t get injured, but then others don’t get the game time they need.
“If we can have two or three players from York that aren’t getting game time but are training with both clubs that can only add to, and benefit, us.
“We will also have some players join York once a week for training during pre-season. I want them to see what it’s like in a top-level environment and have an aspiration to play Super League.
“We want to make it an attractive prospect to play for Sheffield and this partnership with York does that.
“Looking at where the game was when I started playing compared to where it is now is unbelievable.
“For a relatively new Championship club to financially reward their players is massive. It’s not a life-changing amount, but if we’re asking for commitment and asking for more from the players, the least we can do is reward them for giving us that.”
While it’s all friendships and helping each other out for now, that will likely be put to one side for one afternoon when the two sides meet in the Challenge Cup.
Sheffield and York were drawn together in Group One of the competition, along with Featherstone Rovers and Castleford Tigers, so they will meet during the group stages when the road to the Wembley Final gets underway in mid-March.
While Dobson knows the Eagles will have their work cut out to progress to the quarter finals, she knows that the club’s debut season in the Challenge Cup will offer up many unique opportunities for the girls, before their Championship campaign gets underway.
“If I could have picked three sides to play against it would have been those three,” Dobson admitted.
“On paper York are probably the last team you want to play, but I’m hoping Lindsay will take it a bit easier on us and give some of her other players a chance to play against us, rather than putting her best team out and make it a pretty pointless exercise for both teams.
“We know we’re not going to be anywhere near York, but what we’re trying to instil in our players is the level where we want to be. We have some really good players here and if we can expose them to the level that we ultimately want to be playing at it can only be a positive.
“Featherstone are in Super League as well and are a long-established team, but we still feel like we can have a real dig against them. We’re aware of the quality they have, but we’ll go out there and give it a real go.
“Castleford are still struggling, so we can probably eye up that one as a win. It means we face three games of different opportunities and we can take benefits from all of them.
“We get two home games in the group stages as well and they will be played at the stadium. So if we can bring York or Featherstone down to the Olympic Legacy Park, then our fans and some of the community clubs will be able to come and see some of the best players in the game in action and that will be great exposure for the women’s game.
“I’m under no illusions that we’ll be going into it as underdogs as we will be in the Championship as well, but we’re working hard to develop and recruit players. We’re trying to appeal to new players, rather than taking them from other clubs, and we’ve got a few union players training with us. The aim is to build a squad that can compete for years to come.
“A lot of games in the Championship were called off last year when clubs couldn’t raise a team, but credit to the RFL, they have looked at the regulations and made it stricter for teams entering Championship and there are now minimum standards to adhere to and more sanctions for teams calling games off.
“If we can make the Championship stronger, and League One, Two and Three below that, it all filters up and can only make things better at the top, so there has to be a big focus on the game below Super League.
“I’m just excited to be a part of it again and looking ahead to another season of growth.”
Despite her role not officially involving coaching the side, she can’t help but get involved sometimes given her vast experience in, and knowledge of, the game.
And all that was recognised in the run-up to Christmas when she was formally added to the Rugby Football League’s Roll of Honour.
Along with long-serving rugby league doctor Professor Chris Brookes, Dobson joined 51 other individuals who have, since 2003, been recognised for their “extraordinary contributions to the game across both playing and off-field service”.
Having made her international debut at the age of 16, she went on to win 30 England and Great Britain caps before retiring in 2019. She played in four World Cups in her career, captaining England in the final of those in 2017.
She continued to play, and excel at club level with Featherstone Rovers, before fully hanging her boots up at the end of 2021.
The honour came as a big surprise to Dobson, but was one she was more than happy to accept.
“It honestly came as a complete surprise,” she admitted.
“I was away at Centre Parcs with the family and I came out of the swimming pool to a load of missed calls from one of our trustees and a message to call him back. Straight away I thought something was wrong, but he just wanted to make sure I saw the email about it from (RFL chief executive) Tony Sutton before I saw news anywhere else.
“It was a complete shock and something I had never even thought about, but when you look at some of the names already on there, I am humbled to join them.
“I am one of the lucky ones that have had the exposure and that continues to bang the drum for the women’s game. But there have been hundreds of other women, who have gone before me that still do a great job in promoting the game. They have gone under radar a bit, but have set the pathway for us all to play.
“So it’s great we’re really starting to get recognised for that.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 492 (January 2024)
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