BWSL: Temple excited for Saints re-match

As the Betfred Women’s Super League (BWSL) gets underway this weekend, also meeting are Barrow Raiders and St Helens in what will be their second meet of the year following a run in during the Betfred Challenge Cup.

The pair met during the Quarter-Finals of the Betfred Challenge Cup where St Helens put on a dominant display and have now successfully earned their place in the Final at Wembley Stadium.

Hoping to narrow the scoreline as they meet in Round One of the BWSL is Barrow’s Vanessa Temple, the only Raiders player to get on the scoreboard in their battle against the Saints:

“We know what we’re up against with Saints, I think if we just stick to our own processes and focus on what we need to improve on from that Challenge Cup game hopefully we can keep the scoreline down a little bit more and improve on ourselves.

“We were missing a few players for that game so we’re hoping the scoreline will be a bit more respectable this time.

“It’s always good to get on the scoresheet, they were probably not wanting to let any points in so I definitely feel more confident that you can get those breakaways and you can score those points”

Temple, who debuted with the Raiders in 2022, started her journey into Rugby League with Wigan Warriors after her friend convinced her to go along for a trial:

“I used to play Rugby Union down in Liverpool in the Premiership and then one of my friends from there went to trial for Wigan and she said that I should go along so I ended up going and getting in the Wigan squad when Amanda Wilkinson was first there”

This season will see the competition follow a split-season format, starting with teams facing each other home and away in a single round of fixtures before the table splits into two and the top four teams and bottom four teams face one another in an extended Play-Off series.

This new development to the competition is something Temple is particularly looking forward to as she hopes it will continue to allow for highly competitive games all through the season:

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the new layout of the season works and having more, competitive games rather than knowing that those top four teams might put a lot of points on the lower teams and we can just make it that bit more competitive”

And to any women thinking of getting involved in the sport, Temple says:

“Go for it, I know a lot of people think it’s a bit daunting because it is quite physical but Rugby is built for people of any ability, regardless of age, shape or size, so I think if anyone’s debating it I would definitely say to give it a go”

Betfred Women’s Super League – Round 1

Saturday 16 May

York Valkyrie v Huddersfield Giants – LNER Community Stadium, KO 12pm

Leigh Leopards v Featherstone Rovers – Leigh Miners Rangers, KO 1pm

Wigan Warriors v Leeds Rhinos – Edge Hall Road Community Stadium, KO 2pm

Sunday 17 May

Barrow Raiders v St Helens – Craven Park, KO 2:30pm

For the full fixture list please visit the Super League Match Centre here.