County girls join England squad at the Grand Final
Last updated 11:51, Wednesday, 01 October 2008
WORLD Cup-bound Copeland Wildcats Claire Hall and Amanda Donaldson have a date with over 70,000 rugby league fans at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The pair will join 20 fellow England squad members honoured in a parade during half-time of the Super League Grand Final between St Helens and Leeds Rhinos.
“Things like this have never happened before in the female game,” said Neil Gregg, Wildcats coach and England No 2. “It will be a really good occasion.
“The RFL this year has tried to bring us in line with other senior teams, even with finances.
“We’ve had strength and conditioning coaches, and it’s been top class. They are really doing everything they can for us.
“We have two or three training camps coming up and everyone’s mixing well.
“Two more teams have been added, Samoa and the Pacific Islands, so it’s now an eight-team competition. Everyone’s guaranteed five games.”
The England squad jets out to Australia on October 30 ahead of the women’s tournament and are targeting a place in the final.
“We’ve got a DVD of Australia’s State of Origin game, which was their selection match, and they look very skilful,” Gregg added.
England, who will be based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, open their campaign against Tonga on November 6, face Australia two days later and round off the group stage against Russia on November 10. New Zealand won both previous Women’s World Cups in 2000 and 2003.
