Anglian Vipers: Rugby league finds new home on Norfolk/Suffolk border
- Published
With a husband and father-in-law who follow St Helens and Wigan, it is no surprise that Stacey Hargrave-Walker has become a rugby league fan.
She is turning that enthusiasm into action by helping start a new women's side in the East of England.
Anglian Vipers established a men's team in Wymondham, Norfolk last year and they are set to make their debut in East Rugby League this season.
Hargrave-Walker, meanwhile, is among a group of players from Wymondham Wasps, who are switching codes to try to get a Vipers women's team off the ground, which she will captain.
The men and women had their first joint pre-season training session of 2023 on Monday.
"I first heard about the Vipers on a Facebook group. It popped up on the Wymondham rugby union page and I thought 'I wonder if they do a women's team as well'," she told BBC Radio Suffolk.
"It's been just for the men till I reached out. I managed to pull some of the Wymondham Wasps along with me and tried to build on it.
"Last season we only got a few to training. However, this season things are changing - we've got a WhatsApp group together of around 28 to 30 girls, which is really good, they come from all over, Bury St Edmunds, Diss, Ipswich, Norwich, Wymondham and we've got a few [friendly] games ahead of us that are all booked in."
Hargrave-Walker (left) hopes to lead a Vipers women's team in their first friendly on 27 May
The east has only a small number of rugby league clubs - but one of them, Brentwood Eels, appeared in this season's Challenge Cup and reached the second round.
"I found rugby league when I joined the Navy in 2012. I was a rugby union girl then but I just loved it. That's where my interest really started and it's grown and grown," said Hargrave-Walker.
She believes having both men and women in the same club offers plenty of benefits.
"Some of the men have commented that the women have actually done better in training than them," she continued.
"That's always a plus. Having the men and women training together, it gives a sense that everyone is on the same page, no-one is higher, no-one is lower, everyone helps each other."
Trying to play both union and league - both heavy-hitting sports - must take a toll on the body, but Hargrave-Walker is undaunted.
"If you are looking to keep your body in shape and maintain that rugby fitness and agility and speed, and everything like that, doing something such as rugby league in between the end of a season and then the start of a season for rugby union, it's only going to help you.
"The bruises, scratches, cuts, they'll always be there but it will help, and it can improve anyone's performance."