Second spot up for grabs as Leeds Rhinos women face huge Super League finale at Wigan Warriors

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Leeds Rhinos’ women could finish anywhere from second to fourth on the table going into the final round of the regular season.

Rhinos are second in Betfred Women’s Super League ahead of Friday’s visit to Wigan Warriors, which is a curtain-raiser to the men’s clash between the same clubs, thanks to a better for and against than York Valkyrie. Wigan are two points back in fourth place and have a better points difference than Leeds and York, who play bottom club Featherstone Rovers this weekend.

The team finishing runners up to St Helens will secure a home semi-final against the third-placed side and Rhinos loose-forward Bethan Dainton admitted Friday’s Sky-televised fixture is “massive”. But she insisted: “We are going to treat it as a normal game.

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“We don’t want to think too much into it, because that will probably affect people’s performance or our performance as a team. We’ll go into it like we would any other game and hopefully come out with a win.”

Bethan Dainton in action for Leeds Rhinos against Warrington Wolves. Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com.Bethan Dainton in action for Leeds Rhinos against Warrington Wolves. Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com.
Bethan Dainton in action for Leeds Rhinos against Warrington Wolves. Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com.

Rhinos beat Wigan 34-20 in a Challenge Cup semi-final earlier this season and were 28-8 victors in a Super League game at AMT Headingley last month. “It is always a tough game against Wigan,” Dainton warned. “They are a fantastic team and they are getting better each week.

“They are packed full of young talent, they have got really good forwards, their backs are really skillful and we can’t sit back and let them play, because they will take any opportunity. We need to get up in their faces and cut that down early if we can.”

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Leeds returned to winning ways with a 52-12 victory over Featherstone last Sunday, a week after losing 32-6 at home to York. Dainton stressed Rhinos have learned some important lessons from that defeat.

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Leeds Rhinos' Caitlin Beevers is awaiting surgery on a knee injury and will miss the rest of this season. Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com.Leeds Rhinos' Caitlin Beevers is awaiting surgery on a knee injury and will miss the rest of this season. Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com.
Leeds Rhinos' Caitlin Beevers is awaiting surgery on a knee injury and will miss the rest of this season. Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com.

“We didn’t play very well against York,” she admitted. “We let them play against us, we didn’t front up and we know we weren’t good enough on the day.

“We’ve looked back and reflected on a few key areas and talked a lot about sticking together as a team when things get tough. Hopefully we can sort that out this week and not have a performance like that again this season.”

Dainton will return on Friday, along with Sophie Nuttall, Lucy Murray and Grace Field. They are added to the 17 players on duty against Rovers. Star backs Caitlin Beevers and Ruby Enright remain on a casualty list which also includes Beth Lockwood, Shannon Lacey, Elle Frain, Jasmine Cudjoe and Beth Macmillan.

Beevers is awaiting surgery on a knee injury and won’t play again this year. Dainton admitted: “People like Caitlin and Ruby are really important to our team, but it is a good opportunity for others to be getting more game time, stepping up and showing what they can do. We know the girls who are stepping up are good enough to do the job and they have been absolutely fantastic.”

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Lucy Murray could return for Leeds Rhinos this week after not playing in last Sunday's win over Featherstone Rovers. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.Lucy Murray could return for Leeds Rhinos this week after not playing in last Sunday's win over Featherstone Rovers. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.
Lucy Murray could return for Leeds Rhinos this week after not playing in last Sunday's win over Featherstone Rovers. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

Wigan Warriors women: from Banks, Davies, M Jones, Derbyshire, Knowles, Singleton, Speakman, E Hunter, Coleman, Molyneux, Thompson, Gregory, Hilton, C Jones, Hayes, Rowe, Marsh, Foubister, Bradshaw, Wilson, R Hunter.

Leeds Rhinos women: from Robinson, Hardcastle, Nuttall, Butcher, Casey, Bennett, Northrop, Hoyle, Sykes, Dainton, Murray, Whitehead, Field, Glynn, Cousins, Greening, Donnelly, Short, Bruce, Stead, Walker.

Kick-off: Friday, 5.30pm.

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