Warrington intent on ‘strengthening’ the women’s game
With only a few months to go until the start of the new 2019 women’s Championship season, new entrants Warrington have been working hard to assemble a squad for their inaugural season.
According to head coach Lee Westwood, this includes attracting players from other sports. He said: “We had trials a few weeks ago and we had over 50 girls turn up. It was particularly pleasing to see a number of netball and hockey players come down.
“One of our biggest aims this year is to bring these talent transfer girls here instead of taking [players] from other teams and weakening the game – we’re trying to strengthen it.”
Warrington will be competing in the Championship with the ambition of promotion to the Super League by 2020.
Westwood said: “From what we’ve seen already at the trials and training sessions, we’ve been pretty pleased with the standard of players that we’ve got.
“Our aim is to have a competitive side for the Championship through which we will hopefully be pushed up into the Super League the year after.”
Working alongside the head coach is a man with the same surname. Super League legend Ben Westwood will be the assistant and has already been praised for his attitude towards the role with the boss saying: “Ben is really excited about his new role. It’s great to have someone with so much experience on board.”
The head coach was also questioned about a potential signing of current St. Helens women’s player Roxy Mura.
Mura is currently engaged to Warrington Wolves star, Ben Murdoch-Masila, and it is rumoured that she could opt to join the new Championship outfit.
Westwood responded: “Hopefully, hopefully. She’s a great player but we’ll just see what happens in the next few weeks. When we finalise our squad, hopefully we’ll have a couple of recognised girls in there.”
The 2019 women’s Championship season is already lining up to be a competitive one with the likes of Warrington and Huddersfield going up against more established sides in Stanningley, Leigh Miners and Widnes Vikings. The season is expected to begin in April.