Featherstone Rovers Ladies duo ready to hit the ground running

Featherstone Rovers ladies have built a strong foundation in the close-season in preparation for the Betfred Women’s Super League 2022 season, adding to their squad with plenty of new names coming into the ranks.

ProstRL spoke to Rovers’ new recruits, Chloe Billington and Courtney Pursglove about their aims for the upcoming season.

Billington is no stranger to Super League. The former Wakefield Trinity Ladies player believes she has developed as a player and settled into her game at Featherstone.

Billington said: “Since leaving Wakefield I feel like I have really come on as a player and gained more confidence on the field due to the Featherstone ethos, competitive and physical squad.

“The players and coaches always push me to get the best out of me and further me as a player, specifically focusing on weaker areas I needed to work on since the move.”

Looking back at her time with Featherstone, and through lockdown, Billington has spoken about the benefits of self-motivation.

“I found the season tough, demanding and physical especially with the lockdown and missing a lot of field time,” said Billington.

“However, it benefited me to work on myself behind the scenes – building my strength up, working on basics to bring them into the team heading into last season which was successful for me personally as a player.”

Last season Pursglove honed her skills at Castleford Tigers as she transitioned from union to league. The British Army Rugby Union 7’s and 15’s player has grown in confidence and she believes this can only expand and develop at Featherstone.

When talking about her personal goals, Pursglove said: “After my short but successful season with Castleford Tigers, I gained a lot of knowledge on and off field about the game.

“Obviously transitioning from rugby union I felt my confidence grew through each game which I want to maintain whilst playing for Featherstone.

“I feel I can bring my good skill set to the side, such as my passing and kicking game and from this I have set myself a goal to venture into the halves and become one of the play makers which I feel I could be successful at with the players and coaches beside me.”

Coming from the Army setting, Pursglove is used to setting high standards as well as having a determined mindset to get the job done.

“In the Army they have very high standards and demands to meet as a player on and off the field,” said Pursglove.

“This has linked well with the rugby league ethos as I feel the standard does not drop with both being very professional and enjoyable environments.

“Even though both teams are different codes of rugby, I feel like the skill set is still the same within how you read the game and play as a team and the will to want to win.”

Billington has her eyes firmly on silverware this season, after Rovers were narrowly beaten 24-22 by Huddersfield in the Super League Shield final back in October 2021.

“My aims for this season is to reach to a final again and get the silverware this time. I am confident about this as our recruitment has been good and the training atmosphere and attitude has been very positive – we are all connecting as team.”

Following an off-season of hard work, Billington is hoping to secure a starting shirt as the season gets under way.

“My individual aims for this season are to secure a starting shirt within the talented squad we have up for selection.

“I want to beat my try record from last season, as well as maintaining if not surpassing my current levels of my knowledge and core skills of the game.

“I have been working a lot on my strength to cope with the demands of Super League rugby and can’t wait to showcase all the work I have been putting in this year behind closed doors.”

Featherstone’s strong off-field partnership could be the key to unlocking their full potential and it could give Rovers a good footing against their opposition.

Billington said: “The off-field partnership I feel will benefit us as we can communicate with one another and read each others playing style a lot easier than others due to us spending our time together outside of rugby and playing rugby union sides together since 2018.

“This season I think this will make us link up well especially with Courtney being a half and me playing in the centre/wing position, with kicking being a vital part of the game.

“I’ll be able to read when she will want to do a certain play or kick. I think this will give us an advantage on the score board due to being able to practice more together away from training.”

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