Who will follow Georgia Roche, Courtney Winfield-Hill, Jodie Cunningham and Tara Jane Stanley as the Betfred Women’s Super League’s fifth Woman of Steel.
The battle starts this afternoon at Headingley, where the BWSL champions Leeds Rhinos launch their title defence against York, the team they beat in last year’s Grand Final, and now playing for the first time under their new nickname, the Valkyrie – and including Stanley, the long-striding full-back who became York’s first Woman of Steel in 2022.
A panel of experts has again been compiled to study form throughout the 10 rounds of the regular season in both sections of the BWSL – Groups One and Two – with a shortlist to be compiled before the Play-Offs.
The winner will be crowned in the same ceremony as the Betfred Super League Man of Steel in October.
The panel is led by Stuart Barrow, the new Head Coach of England Women, and also includes four women from the Rugby League media – Tanya Arnold of the BBC’s Super League Show, Jenna Brooks of Sky Sports, Lorraine Marsden of Rugby League World magazine, and the former Leeds Rhinos and England forward Danika Priim, who is a regular pundit for the BBC, Sky Sports and Channel 4.
Priim also claims the unique distinction of being involved in the judging for both the Man and Woman of Steel in 2023, having joined the panel of experts who assess every fixture in the Betfred Super League.
The panel will be chaired by Thomas Brindle, the RFL’s Head of Development who is also the General Manager of the BWSL.
Woman of Steel history
2018 – Georgia Roche (Castleford Tigers)
2019 – Courtney Winfield-Hill (Leeds Rhinos)
2020 – no award (season abandoned because of Covid-19)
2021 – Jodie Cunningham (St Helens)
2022 – Tara Jane Stanley (York)
