RFL Women's Rugby League

Football league
RFL Women's Rugby League Premier
Founded2014
Folded2017
Country England
Last champions Thatto Heath Crusaders

The RFL Women's Rugby League was an amateur women's rugby league competition in the United Kingdom. First played for in 2014, the league ran for three full seasons. The 2017 season was not completed as the league was replaced in July 2017 by a new three division structure comprising the Women's Super League, the Women's Championship and the Women's Championship 1.

Teams

Women's Rugby League Premier clubs
Club City Titles (Last)
Bradford Thunderbirds/Bulls Bradford, West Yorkshire 0
Brighouse Rangers Brighouse, West Yorkshire 0
Crosfields Warrington, Cheshire 0
Featherstone Rovers Featherstone, West Yorkshire 0
Fryston Warriors Castleford, West Yorkshire 0
Hunslet Hawks Leeds, West Yorkshire 0
Leigh Miners Rangers Leigh, Greater Manchester 0
Lindley Swifts Huddersfield, West Yorkshire 0
Normanton Knights Normanton, West Yorkshire 0
Oulton Raidettes Leeds, West Yorkshire 0
Rochdale Hornets Rochdale, Greater Manchester 0
Selby Warriors Selby, North Yorkshire 0
Stanningley Leeds, West Yorkshire 0
Thatto Heath Crusaders St. Helens, Merseyside 3 (2016)[1]
West Craven Warriors Barnoldswick, Lancashire 0
Wigan St Patricks Wigan, Greater Manchester 0

Champions

Season Champions Score Runners-up League Leaders
2014
 Thatto Heath Crusaders[2] 36–14 Bradford Thunderbirds Bradford Thunderbirds[citation needed]
2015
 Thatto Heath Crusaders[3] 18–12 Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers[4]
2016
 Thatto Heath Crusaders[5] 36–8 Bradford Bulls Thatto Heath Crusaders[6]

Seasons

2014

In 2014, five teams took part in the Premier Division; Bradford Thunderbirds, Crosfields, Featherstone Rovers, Normanton Knights and Thatto Heath.[7] It was won by Thatto Heath who defeated Bradford 36-14 in the play-off final.[2] There were 11 teams in Division One; Brighouse Rangers, Fryston Warriors, Hunslet Hawks, Leigh Miners Rangers, Oulton Raidettes, Rochdale Hornets, Selby Warriors, Stanningley, West Craven Warriors, Whinmoor Warriors and Wigan St Patricks.[7] Division One was won by Stanningley.[8]

2014 Play-offs

Round 1Round 2Final
Bradford Thunderbirds24Bradford Thunderbirds14
Thatto Heath10Thatto Heath36
Thatto Heath34
Featherstone Rovers12
Featherstone Rovers44
Normanton Knights12
Source:[2][9][10]

2015

The 2015 season began on 12 April with 13 teams in the Premier Division; Bradford Thunderbirds, Brighouse Rangers, Featherstone Rovers, Hunslet Hawks, Leigh Miners Rangers, Normanton Knights, Oulton Raidettes, Rochdale Hornets, Selby Warriors, Stanningley, Thatto Heath, West Craven Warriors and Wigan St Patricks.[11] However, several fixtures were postponed and by early July the league table showed that Hunslet Hawks had forfeited their remaining fixtures.[12] By the end of the regular season Rochdale Hornets were also unable to play giving West Craven a bye in the first round of the play-offs. In the play-offs the top four competed for the championship, the next four for the shield and the remaining teams for the plate. Featherstone, the league leaders, lost to second-place Thatto Heath in the first round[13] but then defeated Bradford to set up a rematch with Thatto Heath in the Grand Final.[14] On 4 October, Thatto Heath won 18-12 in the final with the Shield going to Wigan St Patricks and Leigh taking the Plate.[3][15][16]

2015 Play-offs

Round 1Round 2Final
Featherstone Rovers4Thatto Heath18
Thatto Heath24Featherstone Rovers12
Featherstone Rovers26
Bradford Thunderbirds14
Bradford Thunderbirds56
Stanningley30
Source:[3][13][14]

2016

The 2016 season started on 3 April with a change to the format so that the twelve competing teams were split into two groups after five matches.[17] Bradford Bulls, who replaced the Bradford Thunderbirds,[18] were top of the table on 15 May[19] and were joined by, Featherstone Rovers, Normanton Knights, Stanningley, Thatto Heath and Wigan St Patricks in Group 1. Brighouse Rangers, Leigh Miners Rangers, Lindley Swifts, Oulton Raidettes, Rochdale Hornets and Selby Warriors were in Group 2.[20] The top four from each group then progressed to the play-offs. Group 1 league leaders Thatto Heath defeated fourth place Stanningley in the semi-final[21] and retained their title on 1 October with a 36-8 win over Bradford Bulls in the Grand Final. In Group 2 Leigh topped the league and went on to win the final 20-12 against Oulton.[5]

2016 Play-offs

Semifinals Finals
      
1 Thatto Heath 24
4 Stanningley 0
Thatto Heath 36
Bradford Bulls 8
2 Featherstone Rovers 28
3 Bradford Bulls 30
Source:[5][21]

2017

The 2017 season began on 12 March with 11 teams in the Premier Division: Barrow, Batley Bulldogs, Bradford Bulls, Castleford Tigers, Featherstone Rovers, Leigh Miners Rangers, Oulton Raidettes, Stanningley, Thatto Heath, Wakefield Trinity and Wigan St Patricks.[22] The season was left unfinished with last recorded match played on 9 July between Wigan and Barrow.[23] At that time Castleford were top of the table having won seven matches, but were the only team to have played all ten rounds, whereas Featherstone had won six of their eight matches and Bradford had won all five of their completed fixtures.[24] The County Cup finals were played the following weekend and after these the league was replaced by the Super League and Championship which both started on 23 July.[25][26]

See also

  • Sports portal

References

  1. ^ "Thatto Heath are Women's RL champions!".
  2. ^ a b c "Thatto are just champion". Rugby-League.com. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Thatto Heath – Grand Final Champions!". 4 The Love Of Sport. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Women's Rugby League Round Up : 13 September 2015". 4 The Love Of Sport. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Leigh Miners and Thatto Heath take the honours at Grand Finals Day". 4 The Love Of Sport. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Women's Rugby League Weekly Round up 18th September". 4 The Love Of Sport. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Women's Rugby League". Women's Rugby league. Archived from the original on 16 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Roll of Honour". Women's Rugby league. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Womens Round Up". Rugby-League.com. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Womens Round Up". Rugby-League.com. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Rugby League – Women's Premier League". 4 The Love Of Sport. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Women's Rugby League Round Up – 5 July 2015". 4 The Love Of Sport. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Women's Rugby League Play Offs : 20 September". 4 The Love Of Sport. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Women's Rugby League Play Offs : 27 September 2015". 4 The Love Of Sport. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Wigan St Patricks win the Shield with a golden point". 4 The Love Of Sport. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  16. ^ "Leigh Miners win the Plate in Women's Rugby League Grand Finals". 4 The Love Of Sport. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Women's Rugby League Summer League kicks off on 3 April 2016". 4 The Love Of Sport. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Club of the Week: Bradford Bulls". Rugby-League.com. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Women's Rugby League – 15 May 2016". 4 The Love Of Sport. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  20. ^ "Women's Rugby League Weekly Round up 18th September". 4 The Love Of Sport. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Women's Rugby League – 25 September 2016". 4 The Love Of Sport. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  22. ^ "Women's Rugby League Premier Division round up". 4 The Love Of Sport. 12 March 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  23. ^ "Women's Rugby League Weekly Round up 9th July". 4 The Love Of Sport. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Match Centre". RFL. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Castleford Tigers and Wigan St Pats claim regional titles". 4 The Love Of Sport. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Tigers and Bulls win as Women's RL Super League gets underway". 4 The Love Of Sport. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.

External links

  • Official website
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