| 2021 Women's Super League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 10 |
| Matches played | 36 |
| Points scored | 1,910 |
| Champions |  St Helens |
| League Leaders Shield | St Helens |
| Runners-up |  Leeds Rhinos |
| Biggest home win | St Helens 90–0  Huddersfield Giants (2 May 2021) |
| Biggest away win |  Bradford Bulls 0–86 St Helens (18 April 2021) |
| Woman of Steel | Jodie Cunningham |
The 2021 RFL Women's Super League (also known as the Betfred Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Rugby League Women's Super League for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL).
The title was won by St Helens who beat Leeds Rhinos 28–0 in the Grand Final at Headingley on 10 October. The victory sealed a treble for St Helens as they also won the League Leaders Shield and the Challenge Cup.
The defending champions were Leeds Rhinos who beat Castleford Tigers 20–12 in the 2019 Grand Final on 11 October 2019; the 2020 competition having been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1][2]
The league comprised the same ten teams who were due to play in the 2020 competition. The competition started on 18 April 2021.[3] It was originally announced that the first ten rounds of the competition would all be played behind closed doors at just two venues; Victoria Park in Warrington and Weetwood Sports Ground in Leeds,[3] but by round three other venues such as Belle Vue in Wakefield were being used, although all rounds were played as double-headers utilising two venues per round. Part way through the first part of the season Featherstone Rover's Post Office Road and Bradford Bulls' Odsal Stadium were also used to host matches.
The schedule for the season was originally planned for a ten round regular season, after which, the top four teams would then split off into a six-round play-off structure, with each team playing the others home and away. The two teams who finished top of the play-off table would compete in the Grand Final.[4] The six teams that did not make the play-offs will play each other once in the Shield competition. The top four teams after the round-robin phase, would meet in two semi-finals with the two winners playing in the Shield Final.[4]
On 22 July 2021, the RFL announced that, after discussion with all ten teams, the regular season would stop after the nine rounds already played, and all ten teams would then take a two week mid-season break, with the play-off and Shield competitions starting in August. The other change to the play off structure was, instead of the top four teams competing for the grand final, it would now be competed by five teams rather than four and six. The change was made to allow teams to respond to ongoing issues connected with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and injuries sustained during the first part of the season.[5]
For the first time since the inception of the league, regular games were broadcast live, with one game from each round being shown on Twitch.[6]
- ^ "Castleford 12-20 Leeds: Teenage winger Fran Goldthorp stars as Rhinos complete women's cup double". Daily Mirror. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "COVID-19 Forces Cancellation of Women's Competitions in 2020 – Keighley Cougars". Keighley Cougars. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ a b Marsden, Lorraine (10 March 2021). "Betfred Women's Super League to return next month". TotalRL. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ a b Spratt, Kieran (10 March 2021). "BWSL Set For April Return Ahead Of A Huge Year In Women's Rugby League". The Sportsman. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Betfred Women's Super League brings forward mid-season break". RFL. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
- ^ "Betfred Women's Super League 2021 fixtures released". TotalRL.com. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
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