Hull FC players Alisha Roper and Charlotte Lawson are among the girls now part of the club's Centre of Excellence on a full-time basis; watch three Women's Super League regular-season games, plus the play-offs and Grand Final, live on Sky Sports in 2023
Wednesday 8 March 2023 08:03, UK
Alisha Roper tried various sports before she settled on rugby league. Now though, the Hull FC hooker is a trailblazer for female players in the city.
Inspired to start playing rugby by watching her younger brother in action and having found other sports, in her own words, not "rough enough for me", the potential future England international is also leading the way off the field.
Two years ago, she was the only female player to join the Super League club's centre of excellence on a full-time basis, allowing her to combine playing rugby with studying for an NCFE Level Three Diploma in Sport and Physical Activity.
Rope admits there were some nerves around entering an otherwise male-dominated environment, but quickly settled into the surroundings at Hull FC Sports College and by doing so has opened the door for others to follow in her footsteps.
"I was definitely nervous the fact it was all boys," Roper, who is part of the DiSE programme for talented athletes under the age of 19 which provides her with a pathway to the England Women's, told Sky Sports. "I got told there could be a few girls, but I stepped in there and there were no girls.
"I was like 'oh my God, I don't know if I can do this', but in the first 10 or 15 minutes all of the lads made me feel welcome. They didn't make me feel like the odd one out, so I definitely fitted in.
"It's good to know you can do something you love while getting the education you need. It's been a good opportunity."
It is not just in terms of opening their centre of excellence to female players as well as their male counterparts where Hull FC have embraced their women's team and made them feel truly a part of the club though.
The Black and Whites' social media outlets and website now give their matches the same prominence as the men with squad announcements and updates during games, plus previews, reports and interviews.
Men's head coach Tony Smith took time out to personally congratulate the team and speak with them following their 26-24 win away to Sheffield Eagles in a pre-season match last month, and Charlotte Lawson is in no doubt what seem like small gestures on their own all add up.
"If you go back to a couple of seasons ago, we'd play our games and FC would tweet out our score, and that would be the end of it," winger Lawson, one of those to follow Roper in joining the centre of excellence, told Sky Sports.
I was definitely nervous the fact it was all boys....I was like 'oh my God, I don't know if I can do this', but in the first 10 or 15 minutes all of the lads made me feel welcome.
"Now we're getting squad announcements, people are commenting and asking where games are being played and what time they kick off, so there is definitely a lot more involvement now - and the crowds are getting bigger.
"During Covid, when all of the sport stopped, the rugby league community got together supporting each other, and when we came back it was nice to know everyone was ready to get back out there and get the game back to where it was. With all that support, I'd say it has come back a lot stronger."
Unlike the men's team, Hull FC's women currently play in the second-tier Championship and endured a tough 2022 campaign which saw them finish with just two wins from 14 games in what was something of a rebuilding year.
That included Roper and Lawson stepping up from the U16s for their first experiences of open-age rugby, but end-of-year results like the 38-8 win over Dewsbury Moor and the recent victory at Sheffield which featured 12 members of the college set-up has given the younger players confidence they are adapting to the rigours of playing against adults.
"Going from the U16s to the women's, I was one of the older ones, so I was probably going up on my own," Roper said. "I didn't want to stop playing rugby for a year, but the women really made me feel comfortable.
"Sometimes it can be quite difficult because going from the U16s to the women's is a big age gap. You're playing fully-grown women, but they don't act like U16s when they play against the women.
"We've trained really hard to get to the point we have and just even winning the last couple of games boosted our confidence, knowing we can win, and we have got the team."
The progress being made for the women's team at Hull FC is a microcosm of what is happening elsewhere in the sport, with Women's Super League sides Leeds Rhinos and York Valkyrie taking the step of paying their players from the 2023 season onwards.
It comes on the back of a Rugby League World Cup in England last year where both the women's and wheelchair tournaments were given the same prominence as the men's event, with Lawson excited about what the future holds.
"The sport college we attend, there are a handful of girls who attend and a couple of years ago it was all boys," Lawson said.
"Knowing the opportunities are there for girls to study and play, it gives us the education any college would and with the added bonus we can play the sport we love.
"Now that women are starting to be paid, it's good to know there is a lot more involvement and people are starting to take note it is worth investing in and watching."
Sky Sports is the home of all three Super League Grand Finals in 2023. The Men's Grand Final, the Women's Grand Final and the Wheelchair Grand Final will all be live on Sky Sports this season. Also stream on NOW TV.
