Women's Rugby League World Cup: Tournament is England's 'pinch-me moment'

The Rugby League World Cup volition beryllium a "pinch-me moment" for England guardant Jodie Cunningham.

Cunningham - 1 of 11 St Helens players successful the England squad - said the tourney could herald a caller era.

"This is simply a satellite isolated from erstwhile tournaments I've played in," said Cunningham who played successful 2013 and 2017.

"I thought it could ne'er get immoderate amended than 2017 but if you comparison the sum and illustration - and it being unrecorded connected the BBC - you tin spot radical realise the worth of women's rugby league.

"It is 1 of those pinch-me moments."

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Cunningham, 30, is 1 of 4 survivors from the past England squad to play successful a location World Cup 9 years ago, on with skipper Emily Rudge, grounds try-scorer Amy Hardcastle and Tara Jane‑Stanley.

For that four-team tournament, immoderate squads had to self-fund.

This time, the men's, women's and wheelchair editions are taking spot concurrently, with 8 nations competing successful the women's lawsuit and 4 antithetic continents represented for the archetypal time.

With England inactive part-time, Australia - whose players vie successful the afloat nonrecreational NRL women's contention - person been formed arsenic wide favourites.

'We utilized to get changed successful bars'

Cunningham, who helped Saints triumph the Challenge Cup successful May, is each excessively alert of the important displacement successful the women's game.

"The changes are ridiculous," the 2021 Woman of Steel told BBC Sport. "If you did a behind-the-scenes successful 2013 and now, it would beryllium incomparable.

"I retrieve earlier 1 of the planetary matches we got changed successful a barroom due to the fact that determination was nary changing room, truthful we conscionable had small stools with our shirts on.

"Most of the clip the kit didn't acceptable and that was inactive a situation successful 2017. People tin underestimate these things but astatine elite level if your garment is simply a small spot escaped and idiosyncratic tin drawback it, they are the margins.

"Attention to item successful the women's crippled wasn't determination before. You could person counted connected 1 manus however galore unit we had.

"Now we person spot and conditioning staff, sports subject analysts, physios, doctors, coaching enactment and nutritionists. We person been fixed the tools to perform."

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Juggling priorities & utilizing the Lionesses arsenic inspiration

There is inactive a balancing act, though.

England lone went into campy connected 28 October - the time the women's tourney launched - and person had conscionable 3 days of mentation arsenic a squad earlier their opening lucifer to bounds the clip players person to instrumentality disconnected work.

Rudge - a PE teacher who has captained the nationalist broadside since 2018 - said that could beryllium a happening of the past if England tin emulate football's Lionesses and assertion a large rubric astatine home.

"It's truly hard - it's similar having 2 full-time jobs and there's not capable hours successful the time to bash everything to the champion of your ability," she said.

"It's a monolithic challenge, but hopefully it won't beryllium forever, and this volition beryllium the past World Cup wherever women are moving arsenic good arsenic trying to beryllium a full-time planetary athletes. Watching the Lionesses and what they achieved was massively inspirational.

"If we tin triumph the World Cup, I deliberation asking women to spell backmost to their full-time jobs would beryllium difficult. We've got a monolithic portion to play, and having occurrence successful this tourney volition propulsion things to alteration sooner."

Leeds full-back Caitlin Beevers besides believes the tourney could beryllium a catalyst to nurture the stars of tomorrow.

"The World Cup is going to beryllium monolithic for the women's game. We tin spot the crippled processing with younger property groups. When I started, you could lone play for the lads' teams," said Beevers.

"I utilized to look up to the men, which was fine, but it's large to spot the shift."

Rudge added: "The schoolhouse that I enactment astatine person booked trips to bring a batch of the kids down to ticker games. It is breathtaking for the kids that they tin ticker radical they are astir playing connected specified a large stage.

"The kids are pursuing it truthful overmuch more. I get a batch of 'good luck Miss' messages - but if I bash thing incorrect I besides get a spot of stick."