Jodie Cunningham appointed St Helens Head of Women’s Pathways and Performance

The RFL today sends its congratulations to Jodie Cunningham and St Helens, following confirmation that the England captain has been appointed to a new full-time role at her club as Head of Women’s Pathways and Performance.

Jodie had previously been combining her captaincy of Saints and England with a key role at the RFL as the National Women’s and Girls’ Development Manager, having also worked for Rugby League World Cup 2021 as Community Engagement Lead.

Marc Lovering, the RFL’s Director of Development, said: “This is an exciting move for Jodie and another positive step by St Helens in the development of Women’s and Girls’ Rugby League. 

“She is already an icon of the Women’s game, known and respected well beyond Rugby League as an outstanding athlete and ambassador – and I know she is determined to maintain her on-field standards with an eye firmly on the next World Cup in 2026.

“We’ll miss her at the RFL, but we have a terrific team who will continue to drive the growth of the Women’s and Girls’ game.”

Jodie Cunningham said: “Specifically leading on the women and girls game in this role hopefully, I can bring all my experience, all the development that I've done there to a more local level in St.Helens and help grow the number of girls playing in St.Helens. 

"Working with the community teams to make sure that pathways are all in place so that we have the best young talent coming through and feeding into this women's side so we we're lifting trophies in the near future but also for many years to come as well.”

Mike Rush, CEO of St.Helens R.F.C. welcomed Cunningham to the new role stating: “The growth of the women’s game is fantastic and has probably been faster than most could have expected, but not for Jodie who is a true trailblazer and one of our finest ambassadors for the entire sport of Rugby League. 

“Jodie’s role looks at the players who are here and now, but with a firm eye on the future and how we will be bringing through even more players to develop here at Saints, to become their best at Saints. We want all our teams to succeed at the Club and we keep aiming to develop our Women’s team to be the very best it can be.”