Betts reacts to Women’s Challenge Cup Final win
- Denis Betts praised his players after a historic Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup win over St Helens at Wembley Stadium.
- Betts: “What you saw to today was girls that understand their purpose within the team, they understand their roles, and they support each other.”
- FT | St Helens Women 6-42 Wigan Warriors Women.
Denis Betts praised his players after a historic Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup win over St Helens at Wembley Stadium.
The Warriors scored seven converted tries through different scorers to end St Helens’ Challenge Cup winning run whilst earning their first competition success under the famous Wembley arch.
Speaking post-match, Betts said: “We spoke before about the excitement the girls wanted to bring to the game and it was just fantastic. The scoreboard looks strong, but it was a really tough game between two competitive sides. Our form’s really good, our girls are really confident and you see when they get ahead that they’re hard to stop at the moment.”
On his half time message, Betts said: “We talk constantly about resetting and half time is another place where we talk about what’s next. We knew St Helens would come out with something different and that we had to absorb the first five minutes before we could get back to being us.”
Praising Mary Coleman’s performance, Betts said: “Mary was the best player on the field by a long way, she was absolutely outstanding. She’s got so much energy, she understands her role, she’s tough to tackle, her leg drives are great, and her post contact metres are high. Foot speed is a real big thing in the middle and she’s got that.”
On building momentum, Betts said: “I knew the girls were nervous coming into this game so I was trying to calm it down. They’ve experienced it now and the next step is to push again. We’re not setting goals or targets, but it will be week-to-week with what’s in front of us to keep getting better.”
On the group, Betts said: “I’ve said this to the girls. When players are in the team, I expect them to play well. I’m not going to give them an easy ride because they’re there for a reason so they’ve got to do a job. What you saw to today was girls that understand their purpose within the team, they understand their roles, and they support each other.”
