AN Ulverston rugby league coach is heading up an exciting new venture into women's RL at Wigan Warriors.

Amanda Wilkinson was front and centre this week as the Warriors launched their women's team at the DW Stadium.

The wife of former Barrow Raiders player and coach Stuart, Wilkinson will lead the team in the women's Super League next year.

She was a key part of the launch ceremony attended by more than 130 people, including Great Britain athlete Jenny Meadows and Wigan first-team players Oliver Gildart and Willie Isa.

The event was an opportunity for potential players to network with the team’s staff, and Wilkinson – who became interested in RL when she met Stuart more than 25 years ago – is hopeful for the future.

She told wiganwarriors.com: “The event went really well, there were a lot rugby enthusiasts in the room and it was great to be able to give them an insight into our plans to grow and support the women’s and girls game.

“People stayed back to introduce themselves, and they all spoke positively about the opportunities they want to be a part of.”

The 44-year-old, who has worked for Wigan since 2006, having previously been with Leeds Rhinos, added: “I was overwhelmed by the amount of interest and enthusiasm to grow the game in Wigan by parents, coaches, women and girls all wanting to get involved.

“It was great to see so many young girls leaving the room with a smile on their face, feeling inspired and having a understanding of the opportunities within the women and girls game.”

Meadows, who has competed at Olympic Games and World Championships for Great Britain over 800m , winning bronze in Berlin in 2009, hopes the new team will prove a big success.

She said: “Hopefully it’s an exciting time for a lot of people, getting involved in this. I’ve heard some great feedback just from tonight alone, the atmosphere in here is really exciting.

“Most of all it just made so much sense for Wigan to have a women’s team, in my eyes, so hopefully this can open a lot of doors for girls in rugby league in the area.”

Wigan will be holding open trials for the women's team over the next few weeks, for any player aged 16 and above.

They will take place at Central Park, Wigan, on Saturdays November 25 and December 2 and 9, between 10am and noon, with Wilkinson hopeful there will be players who will travel down from South Cumbria to take part.