A Salford Red Devils Women’s squad of 26 has been announced ahead of their debut 2022 season.
The new team will allow women across Salford and Greater Manchester to play competitive Rugby League, following in the footsteps of rival Super League clubs Wigan, Warrington, St Helens, Huddersfield, Wakefield, and Castleford who all play in the Women’s Super League.
After it was announced in October that the Red Devils would launch their first-ever women’s team, trials were held involving the already established local clubs, Cadishead Rhinos and Salford Swinton Girls, as well as Eccles Sixth Form College.
The excitement and expectation around Salford for the new team is palpable.
SRD Foundation equality and diversity lead, Craig Fisher, said: “The launch, squad announcement and subsequent training sessions for the new Salford Red Devils Women’s Team has been a mammoth task to get off the ground.
“But from that we have assembled a squad loaded with quality players, all of whom are chomping at the bit to make our inaugural season a successful one.
“We have developed a strong team culture which has been led by our tremendous coaching team and in turn has permeated through to the playing group. The ladies are an absolute joy to work with, and are committed to making a lasting impression on the field as well as off it by empowering the next generation of female rugby league players in the Salford community.
“This team is groundbreaking and is a perfect example of the direction the Salford Red Devils are going in to provide inclusive variants of rugby league to our community and further afield.”
The squad announcement is also a great opportunity to unearth some of the Rugby League talent in Salford that previously went unnoticed.
Vanessa Hadley, the newly appointed vice-captain of the team, said: “We’ve trained three times so far and the feeling is good. At the moment we are just focusing on core skills and growing and getting to know each other as a team, we’ve got players coming from far and wide, from rugby union and from other Super League clubs.
“It’s very humbling (to be named as vice-captain). I’ve always been the type of person, if someone’s down, to say come on get back in it, so for those attributes to have been noticed and encouraged felt, from a personal point of view, like a massive win. Obviously the position comes with a lot of responsibility but that’s not something I would shy away from. I feel very grateful for the opportunity.
“In the few evenings we’ve had together the encouragement and enthusiasm of the players, the coaches and the support staff, as a unit, has been great and we feel completely backed.
“In terms of where we can go, I think it’s down to us.”
It is just two years since the Salford Red Devils men’s team made the Super League Final, selling out 60,000 seats at Old Trafford. While the women’s side won’t start their journey in England’s showpiece tournament, there is no doubt that the ladies will capture and encapsulate the passion that Salford has for rugby league.
The full squad can be found below.
📋 Salford Red Devils are delighted to announce our first ever Women's squad for our maiden season in 2022!
🧐 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 👉 https://t.co/dRZtmAXIui
💪 #TogetherStronger | 🔴👹 pic.twitter.com/P9erkQW4ET
— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) November 22, 2021
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