Emily Rudge’s England grateful for women’s rugby league trailblazers

With equal participation fees to the men, prize money for the first time and a mainstream platform, this year’s Rugby League World Cup represents a seminal moment for the women’s game. And if it is Emily Rudge and her England teammates lifting the trophy this autumn, there will be one group of women watching on with particular pride at how far the game has come since they took a leap into the unknown 26 years ago.

Rudge, the captain, and the leading female players will go into camp and be treated like professionals this autumn, just as they have been in the run-up to Saturday’s friendly game against France. Warrington-born Rudge will helm an England side that kickstart a double-header at her hometown’s Halliwell Jones stadium, followed by the men’s team taking on a combined nations all-star squad. The preparations for a groundbreaking tour in 1996 could not have been more different.

“We were lucky if we could get a professional team to let us in back then,” Lisa McIntosh, one of the stars of the British Lionesses’ trip to Australia in 1996 admits. “Halifax hosted us for 10 minutes at half-time once, we played a game on the pitch while the punters were having a pie and a pint.”

“We couldn’t really worry about training because we had to self-fund the Australia trip ourselves,” adds Brenda Dobek, who later coached Rudge with England. “We needed to raise money just to get there, and the girls nowadays can thankfully just worry about playing. There was no help back then. You name it, we did it. Car-boot sales, sponsored walks, bucket collections – even bag-packing in supermarkets.”

Women’s rugby league has made incredible strides in recent years. The introduction of the Women’s Super League in 2017 resulted in a surge of