Women’s Challenge Cup: Kerrigan counting on a Leeds Rhinos-Oulton Raidettes ‘double’

Super League giants Leeds Rhinos face Warrington Wolves at Weetwood Sports Park (2pm), at the same time as community club Oulton Raidettes take on York City Knights at the LNER Community Stadium.

Centre or second-rower Chloe Kerrigan has a foot in both camps, having played for Oulton before joining Rhinos’ academy in 2018.

She was a Challenge Cup winner that season and the following year but admits playing in this year’s final, at Elland Road, would be a dream come true.

“It’s really exciting,” Kerrigan said. “It’s not often you can say you’ve played in a stadium and it’s an honour to play in your home town.

“It’s fantastic when we get to play at Headingley, everybody’s buzzing, but to play at a stadium like Elland Road would be flabbergasting. It shows everything is getting bigger in the women’s game.”

Rhinos beat Huddersfield Giants and Leigh Miners Rangers in the group stage but Warrington will be a tough challenge, Kerrigan reckons.

She said: “I am really looking forward to it; it should be a good match.

“We’ve been working on a lot of things but I think we’re really ready for it.

“It’s exciting because this is like the start of the season now.”

Rhinos beat Warrington 26-0 in a pre-season game at Headingley two months ago but Kerrigan warned: “They are a good side, they have got some very talented players and I think they are going to throw a lot at us.

“They are definitely a team to watch and I think it’s going to be a tough match but I think we might have the edge over them because we are used to the pressure and everything that comes with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final.

“We’ve dealt with that for longer than they have.”

Oulton are the shock name in the quarter-finals. After a 30-10 defeat by Featherstone Rovers in their first game, they crushed 2018 and 2019 runners-up Castleford Tigers 40-0 and then won 14-12 at another Super League side, Wakefield Trinity, last Sunday.

York were last year’s beaten finalists and, having signed a host of top players from Castleford’s table-topping 2019 team, will be strong favourites tomorrow.

But Kerrigan said: “I am still really good friends with a couple of the Oulton girls. Some of them are still young, under-18s, the likes of Caitlin Casey and Ellie Johnson and they have got so much potential and so much talent.

“In a couple of years, I can see them being in the England squad. I am so chuffed for them; the performances they are putting in are outstanding and remarkable considering they are going up against big Super League teams.”

Featherstone Rovers are also in quarter-final action tomorrow against Wigan Warriors at Millennium Stadium, Post Office Road (6pm).