Leeds and England hooker Keara Bennett says her sport should seize the second and construct on a breakthrough World Cup marketing campaign when the brand new Betfred Women’s Super League season will get below means at Easter.
Bennett featured in all 5 video games as England reached the semi-finals, the place they had been crushed by New Zealand in entrance of a near-capacity 7,139 crowd in York.
England’s performances sparked curiosity in Australia’s totally skilled NRLW, with quite a few gamers, together with Bennett’s Rhinos team-mates Georgia Roche and Fran Goldthorp, linked with alternatives Down Under.
And with each the Rhinos and the newly rebranded York Valkyrie asserting they may pay gamers win bonuses for the primary time in 2023, Bennett believes that the longer term for the home sport is vivid.
“Obviously the World Cup was hugely important in terms of attracting so many new fans and media to the sport, and it is something we will be able to build on,” Bennett advised the PA information company.
“The introduction of win bonuses will also make things easier and it shows the game is going in the right direction, although I don’t think it will change the amount of effort we already put into the game.”
Having groups from the NRL come and converse to English gamers provides everyone an incentive, and the earlier a few of our gamers are uncovered to the NRL it will likely be so useful.
Keara Bennett
Bennett’s Rhinos will kick off the season with a repeat of final 12 months’s Grand Final triumph towards York at Headingley on April 9, previous to the Rhinos males dealing with Huddersfield.
It stays to be seen whether or not the Rhinos will boast the likes of Roche and Goldthorp, with the purpose at which the primary main home star agrees a deal in Australia clearly not far-off.
“The standard over there is out of this world but I don’t think we’re far off,” mentioned Bennett, a full-time sports activities science scholar at Leeds Beckett University, who made her Rhinos debut in 2019 and has been integral to 2 subsequent Grand Final wins.
“Having teams from the NRL come and speak to English players gives everybody an incentive, and the sooner some of our players are exposed to the NRL it will be so beneficial.
“If the opportunities come for any of the girls it will be a great one to take, but we’ve also got to strike a balance in terms of building the competition over here.
“When it comes to the World Cup in 2025, we want to be going into it on the same level as Australia and New Zealand.”
