Wakefield Trinity Ladies

Wakefield Trinity Ladies are the women's rugby league team of Wakefield Trinity in Wakefield, England. They were founded in 2016 and between 2018 and 2022 they played in the Super League. As of 2024, they compete in League One, the third tier of women's rugby league in Britain.

Wakefield Trinity
Club information
Full nameWakefield Trinity Rugby League Football Club
Colours Red, White and Blue
Founded2016; 8 years ago (2016)
WebsiteOfficial website
Current details
CompetitionLeague One
20248th
Records
League Leaders (Championship)1 (2018)

History

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In July 2016, it was announced that the women's team for Wakefield Trinity was being established and would be based at Sharlston Rovers ARLFC for its home ground and that this would also provide its training facilities. They were the first women's team to be linked with a men's Super League team and this came with the benefit that the team could play some of its matches as double headers for the men's team at Belle Vue stadium. The team planned to take part in the 2017 Summer League and began by organising pre-season friendlies against teams from the WRLA Winter League including Hull Wyke, East Leeds and West Leeds Eagles.[1][2][3][4] Their first win, a 10–0 victory over East Leeds, was played in September at Belle Vue before the men's match against Catalans Dragons.[5]

In March 2017, Wakefield entered the Premier Division[6] until this was discontinued in July when the league was restructured. They then joined the Championship but missed out on the play-offs by finishing fifth after losing their final match of the season.[7] They were also unsuccessful in the Challenge Cup and Shield, losing in the first round of each competition.[8][9] During pre-season for the 2018 season the club stated their intention to join the Super League in 2019.[10] They started their 2018 campaign with a 40–10 win over Hull FC,[11] and remained unbeaten until a loss to Leeds Rhinos in the Challenge Cup.[12][13] They also reached the semi-final of the Challenge Shield before losing to Bradford Bulls.[14] Wakefield finished the season as league leaders with 11 wins from their 14 games. The league standings were determined by points difference with Wakefield taking top spot by a margin of just two points at the expense of Stanningley. However, Stanningley went on to win the grand final after Wakefield lost to Leigh Miners Rangers in the play-off semi-finals.[15][16][17][18][19]

In 2019, Wakefield joined the Super League and made the competition up to eight teams.[20] They finished bottom of the table with their only league win coming in round two at York City Knights[21][22] and their Challenge Cup run was ended in the semi-final with a 0–100 loss to Castleford Tigers.[23] Following the cancellation of the 2020 season Wakefield had an unsuccessful 2021 league campaign and lost to York in the first round of the Challenge Cup.[24][25] The 2022 season began with a 32–10 win over Castleford in the Challenge Cup,[26] before a 14–12 loss to the Oulton Raidettes saw Wakefield knocked out at the group stage.[27] In 2022, Wakefield were placed in Group 2 of the Super League[28] where they recorded only one win, a 8–4 victory over Castleford, and finished bottom of the table.[29][30]

The 2023 season saw Wakefield return to the Championship.[31] In April 2023, the club announced the launch of a girls' development academy, with the aim of encouraging potential new players.[32] In 2024, Wakefield entered League One following the restructuring of the women's national pyramid.[33] In September 2024, it was announced that the running of the team, which had been operated by the Wakefield Trinity Community Foundation, was to be integrated into the Wakefield Trinity club.[34]

Seasons

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Season League Play-offs Challenge Cup Refs
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos
2017 Championship 6 2 1 3 110 114 5 5th R1 [7][8][35]
2018 Championship 14 11 0 3 390 126 22 1st Lost in Semi-final R1 [13][17][18][36]
2019 Super League 14 1 0 13 64 634 2 8th SF [23][22]
2020 Super League Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic [37]
2021 Super League 7 0 0 7 50 334 0 10th R1 [24][38][36]
Shield 4 0 0 4 6 252 0 5th
2022 Super League (G2) 12 1 0 11 68 586 2 7th GS [27][39]
2023 Championship 18 1 0 17 68 932 -1 9th [36]
2024 League One 14 0 0 14 82 684 -1 8th [36]

Honours

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  • RFL Women's Championship:
    • League Leaders: 2018[15]

References

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  1. ^ "13 teams to compete in WRLA Winter League for 2016/17". 4 The Love of Sport. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Women's Rugby League Round Up 4th September". 4 The Love of Sport. 4 September 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Wakefield Trinity Ladies too strong for the Eagles". 4 The Love of Sport. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Wakefield Trinity Wildcats launch Wakefield Trinity Ladies". 4 The Love of Sport. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Wakefield Trinity Ladies edge East Leeds to earn their first win". 4 The Love of Sport. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Women's Rugby League Premier Division round up". 4 The Love Of Sport. 12 March 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Stanningley thwart Trinity's play off hopes". 4 The Love of Sport. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Women's Rugby League Round Up 30 April". 4 The Love of Sport. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Women's Rugby League Round Up 28th May". 4 The Love of Sport. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Wakefield Trinity Ladies – pre season training kicks off". 4 The Love of Sport. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Wakefield Trinity Ladies open campaign with a win against Hull". 4 The Love of Sport. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Wakefield Trinity make it 6 out of 6". 4 The Love of Sport. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Super League's Leeds Rhinos knock Wakefield Trinity out of the Cup". 4 The Love of Sport. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Leeds to take on Castleford in Women's Challenge Cup Final". Rugby-League.com. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Rhinos and Warriors reach Women's Super League Grand Final". Rugby-League.com. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  16. ^ "Highlights | Stanningley win Women's Championship Grand Final". Rugby-League.com. 14 October 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  17. ^ a b "Wakefield Trinity Ladies accepted into Women's Super League". Wakefield Express. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Hirst hails his Trinity Ladies side after "successful" season". Wakefield Express. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Preview | Women's Championship Grand Final". Rugby-League.com. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  20. ^ "Wakefield Trinity join 2019 Women's Super League". Rugby-League.com. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Women's Rugby League Round-Up". Rugby-League.com. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  22. ^ a b "Women's Super League 2019". LeagueUnlimited. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  23. ^ a b "Rhinos & Tigers march on to Bolton". Rugby-League.com. 7 July 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  24. ^ a b "Betfred Women's Challenge Cup". 4 The Love of Sport. 25 April 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  25. ^ "Draw details for AB Sundecks 1895 Cup and Betfred Women's Challenge Cup". Rugby-League.com. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  26. ^ "Betfred Women's Challenge Cup Round One Round-Up". Rugby-League.com. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  27. ^ a b "Betfred Women's Challenge Cup Quarter-finalists confirmed". Rugby-League.com. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  28. ^ "Betfred Women's Super League to expand again in 2022". Rugby-League.com. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  29. ^ "Betfred Women's Super League Round-Up". Rugby-League.com. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  30. ^ "Betfred Women's Super League Round-Up | September 5". Rugby-League.com. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  31. ^ "Fixtures Confirmed For Women's Championship Season". Hull FC. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  32. ^ "Trinity launch Girls' Development Academy". Wakefield Trinity. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  33. ^ "Northen Women's Championship kicks off this weekend". Rugby-League.com. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  34. ^ "Wakefield Trinity Women Relaunched!". Wakefield Trinity. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  35. ^ "Depleted Wakefield beaten by dominant Wigan St Pats". Rugby-League.com. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  36. ^ a b c d "Match Centre". Rugby-League.com. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  37. ^ "Betfred Women's Super League 2021". York City Knights. 11 April 2021. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022.
  38. ^ "Women's Super League 2021". LeagueUnlimited. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  39. ^ "Betfred Women's Super League Table". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
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Official website