BWSL: Rowe is ready to go

Izzy Rowe is quite literally a Warrior – and there is and will only ever be one club for the flourishing 18-year-old – which is the Wigan Warriors.

Cut Rowe open and she might just bleed Cherry & White, having been a lifelong Wigan fan who is now living out her dream playing for and representing their women’s side in the top tier.

After making her senior debut in 2024, Rowe became a breakout star in the Betfred Women’s Super League and featured heavily as Wigan went on to establish themselves as genuine contenders – reaching a Women’s Super League semi-final, Betfred Challenge Cup semi-final, as well as lifting the Women’s Nines trophy in the summer.

? An incredible debut season for Isabel Rowe who was named the Young Player of the Year at our Women's End of Season Awards last night. #WWRL pic.twitter.com/jIGEGhQ0fo

— Wigan Warriors ??? (@WiganWarriorsRL) November 15, 2024

And emerging powerhouses Wigan have already shown they mean business in 2025, after booking their place at Wembley in style last Saturday.

Denis Betts’ side cruised to an emphatic victory over Leeds Rhinos to reach their first ever Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup Final, running in nine tries against last year’s finalists.

Now, their attention will turn to the start of the new Super League season, with Rowe reflecting on what was a significant 2024 for both her and the club:

“Last season was amazing,” said Rowe.

“I made my debut, which was a massive moment.

“I also really enjoyed playing at The Brick Community Stadium for the first time – I’m a childhood fan of Wigan Warriors.

“From sitting in that South Stand at the age of six and watching the men’s team to being able to actually play on that pitch is crazy to me.

“I remember coming out of the tunnel at the start of the second half. Wigan always tend to play towards the South Stand in the second half and when I was walking out of the changing rooms, people were saying to me ‘the South Stand is waiting for you, Izzy!’ because that’s where I always used to sit.

“We went out and I actually scored a try that day which was truly surreal.

“The Women’s Nines were a big highlight for us as well. I really enjoyed it, and I felt like that competition really suited us. We’re a young, fast team, so we liked the space and expansive rugby we could showcase.

“Then, the away win at York Valkyrie was immense and very memorable. It sets up Round 1 nicely.”

So what exactly are the Warriors’ goals for the new season?

“We just want to compete now,” Rowe explained.

“We've spoke about this season as a group and how we want to be competitive. We fear nobody.

“We want to be a physical side, and we want to keep pushing to get the Wigan Warriors Women up there as a team and as a name.

“We’re just looking forward to getting back involved with the season in and playing. Pressure is a privilege, and we want to live up to a big name of Wigan, do the club proud and bring home some trophies.”

Can Wigan go one step further? It certainly seems that way given they’re already on their way to Wembley…

“100% I believe we can go one step further! We've recruited well in the off-season and got a lot of experience as well as youth in our side.

“We just want to go out and showcase what we’ve been doing over the pre-season and show off our talented squad.”

Rowe, who is arguably just starting out, has already made a name for herself in the women’s competition, and is striving to be the best she can be:

“Hopefully I can carry on learning as much as I can. I'm still developing as a player.

“I'm still learning things and I’m always learning from the experienced girls, especially the Australian girls that have come over. They’ve got bags of experience from playing in elite leagues, so I just want to learn from them and overall improve my game.”

But what has been Wigan’s secret to success? They’ve been on the rise the past few years, before going on to cement themselves as part of the women's 'big four', along with York Valkyrie, St Helens and Leeds.

“A lot of us are close in age, so we're like best friends out outside of rugby as well. We spend a lot of time with each other.

“The team cohesion is massive and I’m a big believer on if you like each other and you enjoy the presence of your teammates, then you're going to play miles better. You've got to have that belief in what you're doing and striving towards too.

“We're looking forward to playing together in this year’s Super League.”

Looking ahead to Round 1, Rowe and the Warriors will host York Valkyrie in the season’s opener this Friday – and it was one apiece in the league last year...

“It's massive," Rowe said. We're taking on the Champions at the at The Brick. We’ve played there before and they haven't, so we've got the advantage on that a little bit.

“We want to take them into our backyard and show them and make that statement in Round One that we’re not here to just play, we want to compete and we're after the title.”

Will this be the year the Warriors bring home silverware?

The Betfred Women's Super League will return this weekend, and Rowe's Warriors will host champions York Valkyrie in the season's opener (Friday 16 May) at The Brick Community Stadium, live on Sky Sports (K.O. 5.30pm).

The full fixture list for the Betfred Women's Super League can be found here.