Women's Super League: St Helens' Jodie Cunningham finds the right balance between work and play

Watch the Women's Super League Grand Final live on Sky Sports Mix from 7.30pm on Friday, October 11

By Marc Bazeley

Image: Jodie Cunningham and St Helens have their sights on Women's Super League glory

By day, Jodie Cunningham is hard at work inspiring the next generation of players in her ambassador role with the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

But her spare time is dedicated to rugby league as well, with Cunningham having to fit training and playing as full-back for St Helens in the Women's Super League (WSL) around her day-job.

It is a situation familiar to pretty much all of her team-mates and Saints' rivals in the WSL, which - for now, at least - remains an entirely amateur competition.

Image: Jodie Cunningham works as an ambassador for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup

Being employed within the sport means the England international has the flexibility needed to be able to put in all of the important off-field work, something which Cunningham knows the value for anyone trying to juggle work and sporting commitments.

"Any of the girls who are balancing a full-time job, you can fit the hours in," Cunningham told Sky Sports.

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"It's just with training you might have to put last-minute training sessions in or you might need physio appointments, so it's just getting that flexibility from your employer so you can come out of work a little bit later or earlier.

"From a personal perspective, the World Cup are fantastic and support me in everything I do, and as the game is growing, becoming more popular and people are more aware of it, I think employers are also seeing what a value there is in having one of their employees representing a Women's Super League team and playing at international level.

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Image: Jodie Cunningham and St Helens face Leeds in this weekend's semi-final

"Everything is helping to grow that understanding and raise the standards."

Preparations at the moment are focusing on this Sunday's play-off semi-finals, where Saints take on Leeds Rhinos for the right to face either Castleford Tigers or reigning champions Wigan Warriors in the WSL Grand Final on Friday, October 11.

It is the second year St Helens have made the top four, finishing third in the regular season in 2018 and following that up by finishing just one point behind League Leaders' Shield winners Castleford - ending the Tigers' unbeaten record with a 20-14 win last Sunday in the process.

Having linked up with Cunningham's former club Thatto Heath to help get the team off the ground for the inaugural WSL season, Saints have quickly integrated the team into their set-up - including holding a recent joint training session with the men's and women's teams.

"As the game is growing, becoming more popular and people are more aware of it, I think employers are also seeing what a value there is in having one of their employees representing a Women's Super League team"
Jodie Cunningham

It is a source of great pride for Cunningham and her team-mates to be pulling on the shirt of one of rugby league's biggest clubs whenever they step out onto the field as well.

"It was a new team they had to integrate into the current set-up, but it's been fantastic," Cunningham said.

"[Head coach] Derek Hardman has been involved at Saints for a number of years in different roles, so that really helped that he was already part of the club.

"This year, I feel like they've really taken us under their wing and they're really getting behind us in terms of marketing and media, and we really do fell part of the club.

"It's a special club and the girls have so much pride when they put that shirt on and are linked with the St Helens brand. It's been fantastic and I can only imagine it will grow and get even better."

After improving their league placing this year, St Helens' next target is to get through to the Grand Final after going down 10-6 to fierce rivals Wigan in the semis in 2018.

Should they overcome Women's Challenge Cup winners Leeds on Sunday, Saints will have a final on home turf to look forward to as this year's showpiece game - which is live on Sky Sports - is being played at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

"It's even more pressure on us to get there, but it's fantastic," Cunningham said. "If we do manage to get to that Grand Final, it would be great to do it on our home ground and hopefully with a lot of Saints fans there.

But we're trying not to think about that too much. There is pressure on us from the club, on ourselves as players because we fell short last year and felt we had a good enough squad to get to the final.

"Everything is just going into Sunday's game and making sure we perform like we know we can."

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