Featherstone Rovers' Great Britain and England legend Andrea Dobson to call time on playing career after Betfred Women's Super League Shield Final against Huddersfield Giants

Rugby league legend Andrea Dobson is hoping for a trophy-winning finale to her glittering playing career this weekend.
Andrea Dobson. Picture by Alex Whitehead.Andrea Dobson. Picture by Alex Whitehead.
Andrea Dobson. Picture by Alex Whitehead.

Dobson will hang up her boots after captaining Featherstone Rovers against Huddersfield Giants in the Betfred Women’s Super League Shield final at Emerald Headingley on Sunday.

The 34-year-old has been playing rugby league since she was 12 and made her Great Britain debut - the first of a record 24 caps - at 16.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Revealing why she has decided to call it a day, Dobson, who has played for Great Britain/England in four World Cups, said: “It is a tough competition, Super League and it is getting tougher.

“You almost have to be part-time, with the training load and things like that.

“I still like to think I can compete to a certain level and I have kept myself quite fit, but I’ve got niggling things I didn’t used to get.

“It takes me a little bit longer to recover and the time and commitment it takes to stay fit, I just think I would rather leave on a high than look back in two or three years and think I did a couple of years too many.”

Lifting silverware on Sunday would be the perfect farewell.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Shield involved the bottom five teams in Women’s Super League and its final is being played as a curtain-raiser to the title decider between Leeds Rhinos and St Helens.

“I think it’s good for the women’s game in general,” Dobson said of the showpiece occasion.

“I think it will be the biggest crowd for a Grand Final, so hopefully it breaks some records and gets women’s rugby league on the stage it needs to be.

“It is a great event to be my last game.

“It is nice for us, on the back of some tough scorelines, to get a nice run of wins and get to a final.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Dobson reckons the women’s game has come on in leaps and bounds since she first played.

“Clubs are backing the women’s teams,” she said.

“It has gone from BARLA [the British Amateur Rugby League Association] to the RFL, there’s sponsors on board and it is on Sky now.

“There’s more people interested in the game.

“It is miles away from when I first started.”