Equality has been a long time coming and despite the hostility, women have been involved in rugby ever since the sport was first played seriously in the north of England in the 1870s, in the form of spectators, wives, mothers…and players. Today, there are over forty adult women’s sides and countless girls’ teams playing the game. The 2022 Challenge Cup Final at Elland Road attracted a record crowd of 5888 and it has recently been announced that women will play a double header at Wembley in 2023. With the delayed 2021 World Cup in England at the end of 2022, women will for the first time not only play on the same stages as the male and wheelchair rugby teams but will receive the same amount of money.

But the road to 2022 has been long and bumpy and while rugby league has come a long way in terms of gender equality, particularly over the past two decades, there is always more work to be done,

Click on the dates below to find out more about the involvement of women in rugby league, the development of the women’s game and the inspirational women who have brought the sport to where it is today.