Fresh off the back of winning this year’s Betfred Women’s Super League League Leaders’ Shield on Sunday against Leeds Rhinos, Hollie Dodd and the Knights go into Sunday’s Semi-Final against Wigan Warriors knowing what is at stake for the team.
England international Dodd, one of the Knights’ stand-out performers throughout this season as well as in victory over Leeds, reflected this week on that victory at Headingley.
“It felt amazing. On the day, it took us a while to get into the game but, once we were in it, we knew what we were competing for. We were all a little bit nervous going into it but, after going behind, it all clicked for us and we dug deep to turn it around.
“In that first period of the match, we were coming up with quite a few errors but we got that out of our system. We’re all competing for a shirt so there is some pressure on us but hopefully all the work we are doing will pay off on Sunday.”
That said, Dodd explained that, despite beating Wigan three times so far in 2022, the team aren’t getting ahead of themselves.
“You can never write them off, regardless of that. They are a good team with really good players so they will be tough and we will need to be at our best to reach the final.”
Reflecting on her first season as a Knight, Dodd admitted she didn’t expect the success the team have had to come so quickly.
“I knew we had a good team but I didn’t think we would win the League Leaders’ Shield. It’s such a big thing to win, it shows how consistent we have been across the whole year and we’re all so happy to have done that.
“Right now, we’re in a brilliant spot and we need to do what we did against Leeds again this weekend.”
At Headingley on Sunday, the Knights were roared to victory by a vocal travelling support, something Dodd pointed to as being inspirational.
“It’s absolutely amazing to play in front of them. Before we were kicking off one time, I was stood just looking and listening to them. All you could hear was our fans. It makes all of us want to do them proud.”
Tickets are available now for Sunday’s Betfred Women’s Super League Play-Off Semi-Final at Headingley Stadium when we face Wigan Warriors as part of a double-header. The Knights’ match kicks off at 3pm and tickets are available now from tickets.therhinos.co.uk, all of which are priced at £5.
