Bradford Bulls remain one of rugby league’s biggest ‘brands’ and their women’s team has enjoyed success in the Challenge Cup and won the inaugural WSL in 2017.
Their 2021 side features two ‘high fliers’, from the Royal Air Force, in Flight Lieutenant Linda McLean and Corporal Alice Fisher.
“I am a flight test engineer for the Eurofighter Typhoon,” Flt Lt McLean told BBC 5 Live’s Rugby League podcast.
“It’s about sitting in the back and telling the pilot what to do, telling them when they get it wrong. Making sure we get the data that we need when we land so that we can analyse it and tell them if it’s safe or effective what they’re doing. I’m a bit bossy.”
The Scot is making her first steps in the WSL with Bradford, having grown up playing rugby union, but is already hooked on the sport and watches on television.
Cpl Fisher, who is an RAF operations assistant, has a longer-standing affiliation with the Bulls and with rugby league in general, despite growing up outside the sport’s heartlands – in Lincolnshire.
“I come from a sporting family, but it was something me and my dad did – watching sport,” Cpl Fisher added.
“And I remember being about eight or nine and asking my dad what he was watching, and it was St Helens.
“That’s always stuck in my mind, and that was it for me, I liked that sport better.”
Such loyalty to the Saints will certainly be tested on Sunday, as they provide the Bulls’ first opposition.