“We are pioneers”: Saints boss praises growth of women’s rugby league

By Sam Hackett

Saint Helens co-manager Craig Richards believes his players are pioneers for women’s rugby league and is looking to leave his legacy on the sport.

Despite a disappointing end to the season for Richards and joint-manager Derek Hardman, the former believes the game is going in the right direction, with community clubs doing a great job for young players and academies getting stronger.

Their side lost the women’s Super League Grand Final 16-12 to Denis Betts’ Wigan Warriors last Sunday, but a record crowd of 5,018 for the showpiece event gave the managers a positive outlook on the progress made this season.

Richards hasn’t let a consecutive Grand Final defeat cloud his perception of the influence his team are having on the sport’s development.

He said: “For me I think that’s key and one of the things we want to do is leave a legacy and we want the game to strengthen at every level.

“The Super League itself is getting stronger and hopefully that goes through to international but it’s great to see another record crowd.”

Since their appointments in October 2024, Richards and Hardman have guided their team to back-to-back Grand Finals and a Challenge Cup final at Wembley, with Richards hoping they can continue their progress to leave the sport in a good position.

He said: “It’s obviously new people coming out and taking notice and hopefully going away having enjoyed a really entertaining close game.

“I was talking to Denis the last time we played them, and we touched on that, we are pioneers, and we are trying to leave something good behind.”

The progress in rugby league has coincided with a monumental summer for women’s rugby union.

The Red Roses’ success at the Rugby World Cup has seen their game propelled to new levels, with Hardman believing rugby league still can’t compete with the money in rugby union.

He said: “I think the problem with most things in rugby union is you only have to look at the men’s game and the commercial side of that, the sponsorship, the money it creates, I don’t think we’ll ever compete with that at this moment in time.

“We’ve got to look after our brand and what we’ve got, and we’ve got to make that the best it can be.

“It’s really important that this new group and the new girls coming through are really good and really exciting, but I think it’s important that we don’t forget about the girls who set them on this journey.

“We’ve all got a duty of care to make sure this game that we look after it because we are all custodians of it until we go and do something else, so I think that’s the key.”

The growth of women’s rugby union shows the ceiling for women’s rugby, and with people like Hardman and Richards driving rugby league forward, more progress is achievable.

The managerial duo now have until next spring to prepare their team for the 2026/27 campaign, where they’ll be hoping to come back to a league with even more eyes on it.