St Helens boss addresses controversial referee appointment ahead of Women’s Super League Grand Final

The Women’s Super League Grand Final takes place this Sunday, with Wigan Warriors looking to complete a clean sweep of trophies in 2025. Standing in their way though are St Helens, who will pose a heavy threat to their title ambitions.

The Warriors, under the leadership of Denis Betts, have had an incredible year, losing just once and winning three trophies so far. However, they are not stopping there, with only the Saints standing in their way between them and all three trophies in one season.

The Saints however, finished second in the league, and whilst their year has been impressive, they could not have expected the dominance Wigan have shown this year, which put an end to their trophy dominance.

The Saints Women won four successive Challenge Cups between 2021 and 2024, with a Grand Final victory and a League Leaders’ Shield in that time too. Now under the tutelage of Derek Hardman and Craig Richards, they will need to be near-perfect if they are to beat the Warriors and claim their first Women’s Super League title since 2o21.

However, there has been some controversy surrounding the fixture, with the match official selection raising eyebrows. Fans were quick to notice that taking the whistle will be Tara Jones – Super League’s first-ever female touch judge and an established referee in her own right.

Jones was a St Helens player up until the end of last season and supporters have questioned that appointment for obvious reasons.

Coach Richards was asked in his pre-match press conference this week whether the appointment of Jones was surprising, given her past ties to one of the teams involved.

The former England boss was quick to defend the 29-year-old’s appointment, and reaffirmed that she was chosen based on her talent and ability alone.

He said “Has it surprised me? No. I’ve worked with Tara for a long time and I know how dedicated and hard-working she is. I also know that her appointment is a great one based on merit and neither team will get nothing off her. She will referee straight down the line and her decision-making is generally really, really good.

“Did it take me by surprise? A little bit, but it’s going to do. She shouldn’t be held back from refereeing such a game when she’s proven on merit that she’s more than capable of handling it.

“Two best teams” competing in final says St Helens boss

In what will be another great advert for the women’s game, the Warriors and Saints have battled it out three times this year, twice in the league and the other at Wembley, where Wigan won their first trophy of the year. In the regular season, the two played out a 22-22 draw, before Wigan edged out a 24-20 thriller at the Totally Wicked Stadium to cement first place.

There has been very little to separate the sides in 2025, and Richards expects that to remain the same in Sunday’s showpiece final. He believes the positions in the final are deserved, with the two best teams in the league competing for the trophy.

He said: “The two teams finished in first and second, with a point between them, so without being arrogant, we clearly were the two better sides and we carried that form into the semi-finals. I think it’s particularly the game that people wanted, not Leeds and York obviously, but a lot of people have been talking about it that it was going to be another great fixture, especially after the game at Robin Park when we drew and the fight to finish top was so close and such a great game. Without doubt, the two best teams are in the final, in my opinion anyway.”

Asked about what he can take from the defeat at Wembley earlier in the year into the game, he said: “For us, there’s a lot of strength that we can take from Wembley. The fact that we got there five times in a row shows our pedigree, shows we’re always there or there abouts for silverware. On the back of that, we learnt a few lessons which led us to a draw and there’s just nothing between the sides. We’re similar in certain ways in terms that we can both score tries from anywhere on the field. We’ve [both] got exciting halves, exciting edges and there really isn’t much between the sides. For me, it’s about that focus and focusing for 8o minutes. What we’ve done in the past is we’ve switched off for a coupe minutes here and there so its about focusing a staying true to our strengths.

Serious About Rugby League has launched a brand new podcast which can be watched in full on our YouTube channel here.