Jodie Cunningham: St Helens captain believes match payments will help club retain talent

St Helens won the first Women's Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium last season

St Helens' decision to pay players will enable the Women's Super League club to keep hold of prospective youth talent, says captain Jodie Cunningham.

The club announced on Wednesday that they will give match payments to players from the 2024 season.

Huddersfield, Leeds and York have also committed to paying players this term.

"This isn't just about money, it's about where we place rugby league and women's rugby league," Cunningham told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"The opportunities are endless now for young girls getting involved and hopefully we continue to see that growth.

"There's a lot of talented young girls who play four or five different sports. The most talented ones are sometimes on two or three different sports pathways.

"In rugby league, we want to compete with the likes of gymnastics, cricket, football, to keep these young girls in our sport.

"They often love it but they move to other sports because pathways or opportunities are better there.

"This news is really important to show young girls that there are opportunities in this sport and there's amazing things that can happen off the back of it."

From 'dog muck and glass' to Wembley

Saints have been a major force in domestic women's rugby league since their formation in 2017 and have won three Challenge Cups and a Super League title during that time.

Their meteoric rise has happened fast, from playing at a local park to sharing the Totally Wicked Stadium with the club's men's side.

"For us we've been through a journey with women's rugby league with how it's grown until it's got to this place," Cunningham added.

"We've gone from barely getting enough teams to play games, or checking the pitch for dog muck and glass before you play, to playing at Wembley and having the Totally Wicked Stadium as our home ground."

Cunningham's fellow England international Emily Rudge is also impressed with the rise of the club in a short space of time.

"The sport has come such a long way since I started playing. As an amateur club we were playing out of parks and we really struggled to get a team together," Rudge told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"We struggled to get any sort of funding for kit. We packed bags in Morrisons to raise money for it.

"Now to see where we are, playing for an incredible club in St Helens, playing at a stadium on a regular basis, getting paid, playing at Wembley, that is such a massive journey we've come on. I feel fortunate to have experienced it all."