EXCLUSIVE Interview with Jodie Cunningham (Thursday 31st March 2022)

 Hello and welcome back to my blog. Today, we have an interview with St. Helens Womens Captain, Jodie Cunningham. Arguably the biggest name in female rugby league, she has achieved so much in our great game. She started playing rugby at high school, and quickly progressed to the stage where she was picked for England while still in Sixth Form. While at Leeds University, she played in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup and also joined Thatto Heath, who she went on to win 4 consecutive challenge cups between 2013 and 2016. She quickly made her stamp on newly formed St. Helens women's team despite missing the most of the 2018 season through injury. In 2019, she co-captained the Saints with Tara Jones and in 2021 became the outright captain of Saints, the same year she won the Women of Steel. Now, she is doing work in the build up to the World Cup alongside playing, and I sat down to ask her a few questions.

What was it like being picked for England whilst still in Sixth Form?

"Incredible but equally very daunting. I remember feeling very out of my depth and like I didn't deserve to be there, I was around so many incredible and very experienced international players and I was just a scrawny little kid. It took me a long time to feel like I deserved my place in the squad but I just tried my best to gain the respect of my team mates by bouncing back up everytime I got knocked down. Looking back now though I also don't think I fully appreciated the opportunity I had at such a young age but as I've got older I think I enjoy it and relish every minute I get with the squad and on the field because you never know when it could be your last."

You won 4 challenge cups in a row while at Thatto Heath; what do you put that success down to?

"We had an incredible group of players at Thatto Heath and some fantastic coaches over that period, firstly with Nige Johnson (current Leigh Miners Rangers Women's Head Coach) and secondly with Mark Brennan (current Wakefield Trinity Head of Foundation) and the quality of coaching not only improved the players that were there but attracted talent to the club. From the very beginning when we formed the club's first open age women's team, Thatto Heath were brilliant with us and hugely behind the women's and girls game with girls teams at all ages filtering through into the open age set up. We had a lot of experienced internationals in that squad but it was the young girls coming into the team which allowed us to have the success that we did."

You captained the St. Helens team that won the first treble since the creation of the Women's Super League; is this the proudest moment of your career and if not, what is?

"Yeh I think it has to be last year and just everything that we achieved as a squad in 2021. But I don't think it's just about winning the trophies, it's how special the competitions are now that the Women's Super League has grown so much. Playing live on television, in amazing stadiums and with big crowds cheering us on is stuff that felt too far away to dream of not too many years ago and now it's our reality. If I had to pinpoint the real moment of pride from it all was seeing young girls with Cunningham on the back of their Saints shirt, that for me was just a 'pinch me' moment, it proves what we do really matters."

You are an ambassador for this years Women's World Cup. Do you think that this tournament is crucial for growing the Women's side of the game, especially as it is on home soil?

"100%! I believe this World Cup will be a game changer for Women's rugby league both domestically and internationally. To have the top female players in the world competing in some of the best stadiums in England, all streamed across free to air BBC platforms is going to give exposure to the game like never before. We've seen how the Women's Super League how providing the women with a good platform to play from has inspired so many young girls to become fans of the game and take up the sport themselves so the World Cup coming off the back of what will be another great season for WSL should catapult the game forward to the next stage in its development and help on the journey to professionalism."

Finally, you are the RFL's National Women and Girls Development Officer; this is an important role and the fact you got it is probably reflective of how well you have done in the sport, so what did it mean to you to get appointed to that role?

"The appointment was huge for me personally and a dream step in my career. I've always been so passionate about the womens and girls game and the potential it has to support the growth of Rugby League has as a whole so to be in a position to help steer the direction of the Women's and girls game fills me with great pride. I'm also well aware of the responsibility I have to provide the best opportunities for both current players and future generations to succeed so there is definite pressure that comes with the role that hopefully my career on the field will help me to navigate.

The noise around the women and girls game and the growth in player numbers and teams across recent years has snowballed womens and girls rugby league in to a beast too big to ignore. There are so many people internally at the RFL, at each of the professional clubs and foundations, and throughout the community game that are working hard to see the women and girls game continue on the upward trajectory it is currently on, so even without my appointment, the sport is in a really good place."

Well that is it for today. Some very interesting stuff there from Jodie and I think we all agree that it's great to see Women's Rugby League on the rise. I want to say a massive thank you to her for doing the interview. The next interview will be with ex-Leeds Rhinos player and current York City Knights Assistant Coach Brett Delaney, which will be out within the next week. I hope you all enjoyed reading that and thank's again to Jodie. I hope to see you back next week for Brett Delaney's interview, but until then, bye!