Cardiff Demons name squad for Women’s Super League South Grand Final on Sunday

Cardiff Demons head coach Ian Newbury has been forced to make three changes to his squad for the big Betfred Women’s Super League South Grand Final against Army Rugby League in Ealing this Sunday (kick-off 12.15pm).

The match at Ealing Trailfinders ground is the first of a double header, where fans can also watch the men’s RFL Championship match between London Broncos and Sheffield Eagles at 3pm.

Missing the game is club and Wales captain Shaunni Davies who suffered a season ending injury in the closing stages of the semi-final win over the Broncos nearly two weeks ago.

Sara Jones and Ffion Jenkins are also unable to play, having suffered head injuries in the semi-final and safety protocols say they’re not allowed to train for 14 days following such an injury.

Replacing them are Wales international Seren Gough-Walters, who played in the first two out of the three matches in the group stages of the competition, as well as Lily Snape and Bryonie King, both of whom played in the final group match against Golden Ferns where King bagged five tries and Snape scored once in the overwhelming 106-0 win against the Bristol-based side.

King and Snape are just two of many Demons players who are in their first season of rugby league, both of whom were brought into the game by Rhondda Outlaws.

Newbury says: “As with all selections this year, it’s been a tough decision. All the players have put their hands up at some point to make every decision difficult and given me headaches as a coach, which is what you want.

“We are obviously down three players through injury and HIA (head injury assesments) but luckily we have players coming back in that fill the gaps nicely.

“We’re looking forward to Sunday’s match, we know it’s going to be a hard battle. We’ve watched the Army’s matches against Golden Ferns and London Broncos, and they beat both quite convincingly. We know that they’re going to come with a lot of fire power. They’re a well-equipped side so we’re under no doubt that it’s going to a be a tough game.

“In terms of what we’re doing it for, obviously we lost Shaunni through injury in the last game and that’s a big motivator for the girls – to win for her. But it’s our first season, we’ve got to this point, it’s a really big occasion for the club and for them, and we’re looking forward to taking it out there and pushing them as far as we can.”

Captaining the Demons this week will be Wales dual-code international Ffion Lewis, one of 10 Wales internationals in the 20-player squad, nine of whom played against England earlier this season.

Charlie Mundy replaces Lewis as vice-captain. She is one of six players who are set to be ever-presents in the Demons side this season, the others being Danyelle Dinapoli, Leanna Maybank, Eleri Michael, Lowri Norkett, Molly Reardon.

Norkett comes into the game as Demons’ top try scorer with 14, nearly a quarter of the Demons’ 61 tries this season, in her four games so far. After scoring four tries per game in the group matches, she ran over for two against the Broncos in the 38-20 win a fortnight ago.

The British Army team, already well established in Women’s Rugby League with an impressive pedigree and strong track record, is made up of players from all over the UK, including Welsh international Jess McAuley who this year featured in the first ever Wales v England international alongside nine of the Cardiff Demons squad.

For Cardiff Demons, it would be an amazing end to their very first season should they win the final, with a number of their players still to reach double figures in matches participated in as rugby league players.

Tickets for the match are available from https://londonbroncosrl.com/ but for anyone unable to attend the game, they can watch live at https://www.rugby-league.com/ourleague where fans must register an account free of charge.

Click here to download Cardiff Demons squad data. 

The full season’s results are at http://rugbyleague.cymru/cardiff-demons. The match against Cornish Rebels away was awarded to Cardiff after Rebels forfeited for Covid-19 reasons.

CARDIFF DEMONS SIDE (community clubs in brackets):
1 Leanne Burnell (Cardiff Demons)
2 Leanna Maybank (Rhondda Outlaws)
3 Lowri Norkett (Rhondda Outlaws)
4 Seren Gough-Walters (Cardiff Blue Dragons)
5 Eleri Michael (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
6 Ffion Lewis (Rhondda Outlaws, capt)
7 Amberley Ruck (Cardiff Blue Dragons)
8 Danyelle Dinapoli (Cardiff Blue Dragons)
9 Molly Reardon (Rhondda Outlaws)
10 Lauren Aitken (Cardiff Blue Dragons)
11 Charlie Mundy (Cardiff Blue Dragons, vice capt)
12 Bryonie King (Rhondda Outlaws)
13 Joeann Mcguire (Rhondda Outlaws)
14 Kim Boaler (Cardiff Blue Dragons)
15 Sara Prosser (Rhondda Outlaws)
16 Ffion Jones (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
17 Lily Snape (Rhondda Outlaws)
18 Katie Carr (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
19 Rosie Carr (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
20 Chelcey Greasley (Cardiff Blue Dragons)