Written off in some quarters before the game, York Valkyrie put a year of adversity behind them to retain their Super League title in thrilling style against favourites St Helens.
SOMETIMES in life, the ability to deal with adversity can be your greatest strength. And that was certainly the case for York Valkyrie this year as they became the first side to retain their Women’s Super League title with an 18-8 win over League Leaders’ Shield winners St Helens.
Matty Smith’s Saints side went into the final as favourites and were chasing their second treble in four years, while York were simply relieved to have even made the top four come the end of the regular rounds.
Despite starting the year as one of the favourites for the title, York finished third after losing games to Leeds, Wigan and Saints, throughout a year dogged by injury and illness.
Coach Lindsay Anfield barely got a consistent side out from week to week, and almost every player in the squad had to play out of their favoured position at some point throughout the season.
The blows started before the season even kicked off with 2023 Woman of Steel Sinead Peach announcing she was pregnant. Another former winner of the same award, Tara Jane Stanley, was in and out of the team all year with various injury concerns before finally being ruled out for the rest of the season after picking up a fresh knee injury against Leeds in September.
Leading names Kelsey Gentles, who will now undergo the knee surgery she was putting off to avoid even more disruption, Carrie Roberts, Tamzin Renouf, Liv Gale and Rhiannion Marshall also missed large periods of the season, forcing Anfield to call on some of the club’s under 19s stars and utilise the dual registration partnership with Sheffield Eagles to fill her squad.
By contrast, Saints had lost just once all season, they had home advantage and a relatively fit squad, so went into the final as clear favourites over York, who had been written off in some quarters before a ball was even kicked.
But for Gentles, who missed last season due to the birth of her daughter, York were always out to prove the old adage that ‘anything can happen in a final’
“Until you are out of a situation you don’t really appreciate what it is, so to come back into the side this year and win a Grand Final after missing it last year – I’m buzzing,” said the 25-year-old who scored York’s third, final and decisive try at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
“To get a crucial try as well is incredible. It had been a bit of a flustered set, we’d not set up properly and Tamzin (Renouf) just told me to go for the crash ball and finish it off, and I thought why not?
“I knew that I had just got the ball down and I nearly burst into tears when it came up as a try on the screen.
“I came straight off after that, but I had done my job. We all did that, especially in the second half, we stuck to our processes and that paid off.
“I was in amongst the celebrations last year and it was great, but it’s even more so this time after going back-to-back.
“There were a few disrespectful articles leading up to the game about us being the underdogs and about us losing our title, but we just thought ‘no, we’re going to take this to Saints and make them prise the trophy from our hands’. We’re fighters, and that’s what we went out and did.”
While York’s performance on the day was something special, so was the individual performance of utility player Georgie Hetherington, who for a second season in succession picked up the Woman of the Match award for the final.
Last year she was on the wing, this year she played the unprecedented role of fullback-cum-hooker given the absence of both Stanley and Peach.
Defending at fullback and attacking from hooker, she put in an almost faultless display and was given further reason to celebrate just days later when she was named the third Woman of Steel to come from York in as many years.
“This (Woman of the Match award) could have gone to any of the girls out there,” added an emotional Hetherington straight after the game.
“Every one of them put their body on the line to get our win.
“Since coming back into the side after having a baby a few years ago I just want to play, so will play anywhere I’m put and I think that attitude has helped me in the situation I’ve been in this year.
“With all the adversity we’ve faced this year it’s been a big mentality battle for us all. It’s been turbulent so we’ve had to dig deep, stay together and that means the bonds between us are stronger than ever. That’s what has got us through and got us to be back-to-back champions.”
As well as Hetherington, Izzy Brennan, one of the under 19s players promoted to the first team by Anfield this year, also impressed – peppering the Saints backs with numerous difficult kicks, many of which they simply couldn’t deal with and allowed York to build more pressure as the game went on.
“First year in the side and a Grand Final victory already, it just feels so surreal,” said 17-year-old Brennan.
“It was crazy to get that call-up. You always aim to play in the first team and that is what I have always wanted. So to move up to the first team this year has been like a dream and it didn’t seem real at the start.
“But then I was stepping out onto the pitch and playing with the players I have watched for years who are now my team-mates, so it’s really strange.
“Even though Tara has been out, she has been helping me loads with my kicking game and the girls in the forwards have been helping me know where I need to be and what I need to do.
“So having all those experienced girls around me has helped me feel more confident. And when my first kick of the game worked and caused problems I just went to that side again and again and it kept working and helped us out.”
Saints duo Faye Gaskin and Tara Jones hung up their boots for good following the final hooter, while the game also signalled the end of Roberts’ playing career. Fittingly it was against the side she started her Super League journey with in their treble-winning 2021 season.
“Becoming back-to-back champions in my final game is an amazing way for me to go out,” Roberts added.
“We’ve faced some adversity this year but we’ve just had to unite as a team, come together and do whatever job has been asked of us. By doing that we’ve come away with a win in the Grand Final.
“I was quite glad I was one of the underdogs and in the background a little bit going into the game. Faye had had quite a bit of media attention going into it, but I didn’t want a big hype. I’m the sort of person who prefers being away from that sort of thing and just getting on with my job.
“The game wasn’t about me, it was about everyone, and it was the perfect way to go.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 502 (November 2024)
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