We're sponsored by Glossop Caravans

Mia to fly flag for Lionesses!

29 August 2023

Lioness Mia Atherton selected for ground-breaking England Tour!

We are proud to announce that our very own Mia-Jayne Atherton has been selected for the England Community team’s tour of Serbia this coming October.

Mia’s selection is a great honour for both herself and the club, following a rigorous selection process by which an original 140 players were narrowed down to the final squad of just 20.

Well done Mia, we are very proud of you!

The Rugby Football League reports :-

This Autumn the England Community Lionesses make history with a first ever tour away from the United Kingdom.

A squad of twenty players will board the plane to Belgrade on 7th October, returning on the 15th after playing two tests against the Serbia Women’s national side on the 8th and 14th.

The squad sees a real mix of players from across the Women’s community game with two selected from new Women’s Super League South champions London Broncos, five from Sheffield Eagles, three from Stanningley and Hull Kingston Rovers, two each from Dewsbury Moor and Thatto Heath Crusaders and one each from Swinton Lions, Bedford Tigers and Leamington Royals.

Head coach for the trip is Peter Grayburn with Jack Coates and Martina Greenwood assisting.

Three members of this playing group were included in the last Lionesses squad that defeated England DISE 22-18 earlier this year, they were Sue Nuemann (London Broncos), Nichola Gross (Bedford Tigers) and Mia-Jayne Atherton (Swinton Lions).

The squad was selected after a trial process that originally started with 140 names nominated.

The full playing group to head to Serbia is:

Mia-Jayne Atherton (Swinton Lionesses), Claire Fisher, Sarah Palmer, Lisa Parker, Agnes Wood, Victoria Thomas (all Sheffield Eagles), Tilly Davies, Lauren Exley, Chloe Wainwright-Morley (all Stanningley), Aalia Brewster, Lois Brown, Carla Nolan (all Hull KR), Sue Nuemann, Sophie Messem (both London Broncos), Faye Barraclough, Nancy Hirst (both Dewsbury Moor), Olivia Argent, Arabella Reed (both Thatto Heath Crusaders), Nichola Gross (Bedford Tigers) and Sophie Henry (Leamington Royals).

Related News

News

RAMPANT LIONS STUN ROVERS!

2 days ago

SWINTON LIONS 28 FEATHERSTONE ROVERS 8 IAN RIGG at Heywood Road, Sunday 8 September 2024 The Lions put in a superb performance to claim a season’s double over Rovers and move out of the bottom two. The last time the Lions did the double over Rovers was in the 1962/3 season. It was Rovers who took the lead in the fourth minute when Danny Addy put in a short kick and Greg Minikin scored on the right, but Dec Patton was unable to convert. Patton then tried to set up Greg Eden, but the kick ran dead with the fullback chasing. The Lions forced two goal line drop-outs, but nothing came from them and then Brad Day and Connor Barley had chances for Rovers, but both knocked on in good positions. The Lions took the lead on sixteen minutes when Gav Rodden, Jayden Hatton and Lewis Hall combined to send Richard Lepori in by the posts and Dan Abram converted. Good Lions defence thwarted Rovers twice before the Lions went further ahead when Jayden Hatton put in an arched run to latch on to a pass by Jordy Gibson to score by the posts and Abram again converted. It looked like Abram was going to add the Lions third try when he chased a Gibson kick but knocked on diving for the line and then kicked the ball away and was sent to the sin-bin for delaying the restart. Rovers tried to come strong again and Barley had a good chance for the corner but lost the ball near the line. The second half started well for the Lions when Mitch Cox stole the ball one on one from Connor Jones and this put the Lions back on the attack. And in the forty-sixth minute Rodden put in a nice kick for the corner and Rhys Williams went in for a try but Abram was unable to convert. An incident was placed on report for a tackle on Jack Stevens and from the penalty play Williams almost got Rodden away, but he knocked on. Rovers then bombed a try when Patton kicked for the right corner, but Maddox Jeffery could not hold the ball to score. The next Lions try came on the hour when smart thinking by Jake Spedding went short side and sent Lepori in for his second in the right corner, but Abram could not convert this one. Just after the restart Lepori made a break down the right, but the Rovers defence held him short. Rovers added their second try on sixty-five minutes when Eden scored in the corner but again no conversion. The Lions were getting on top again and Lepori scored his third with thirteen minutes left when Jack Stevens kicked for the corner and the ball bounced nicely off his boot for him to score and claim his 100th point for the club with Abram adding the conversion. There was more and more pressure on the Rovers line as timed ticked away and the visitors could not get away, but it was the Lions who scored the last points of the match when Abram kicked a penalty for backchat. The game finished with the Lions on the attack in the Rovers twenty. LIONS 1 Dan Abram 25 Richard Lepori 3 Jake Spedding 4 Jayden Hatton 5 Rhys Williams 18 Jack Stevens 7 Jordy Gibson 10 Gavin Bennion 14 Josh Eaves 13 Mikey Wood 11 Gav Rodden 12 Mitch Cox 16 Lewis Hall Subs (all used) 20 Jack Houghton 26 Ant Walker 24 Jordan Case 8 Liam Cooper Tries: Lepori (16. 60.67), Hatton (26), Williams (46) Goals: Abram 4/6 Sin-bin: Abram (29) delaying the restart Man-of-Match: Ant Walker ROVERS 26 Greg Eden 31 Connor Barley 4 Greg Minikin 3 Josh Hardcastle 29 Maddox Jeffery 13 Danny Addy 30 Dec Patton 36 James Lockwood 9 Connor Jones 32 Ben Nabkubuwai 11 Brad Day 12 Jack Bussey 37 Jimmy Beckett Subs (all used) 8 Gadwin Springer 14 Harry Bowes 23 Jack Arnold 15 Wellington Albert Tries: Minikin (4), Eden (65) Goals: Patton 0/2 Penalty count: 6-5 Half-time: 12-4 Referee: Scott Mikalauskas Attendance: 780

News

CHAMPIONS ELECT OVERCOME LIONS

1 week ago

SWINTON LIONS 0 WAKEFIELD TRINITY 60 IAN RIGG at Heywood Road, Sunday 1st September 2024 An eleven try display by Trinity saw them overcome the Lions with a lesson in keeping the ball alive and excellent finishing. Before the game the Lions gave a guard of honour to their opponents, but also for their own player Mitch Cox who was playing his 100th game for the club. It started badly for the Lions when they knocked on at the very first tackle. Trinity took the lead in the fourth minute when Matty Ashurst went in at the corner and Max Jowitt landed the conversion. Too fast and too strong came to mind when Toby Boothroyd tore threw the centre of the Lions defence to send Lachlan Walmsley under the posts and Jowitt again converted. The third try quickly followed when a good passing movement saw Derrell Olpherts crossing in the left corner but no conversion from this one. The Lions defence was under constant pressure with the attacking style Trinity were playing and Jay Pitts was next to score when he crashed in by the posts with Jowitt on target again. Former Lion Liam Hood set up the next one this time sending out a short pass for Ky Rodwell to go over on the left and again the conversion was good. An incident not identified was placed on report in the build up to the try. The next try came to the returning Isaiah Vagana when he went in from short range on the half hour and again a good conversion. The Lions had a rare chance three minutes from the break but Brad Hammond going over on the right was pulled for a forward pass and in the last minute of the half good play down the left by Ashurst and Olpherts saw Liam Kay race over, but the conversion attempt hit the post and bounced out. It was a much better performance from the Lions in the third quarter of the match and they played some good rugby and put in some great defence. They forced a goal line drop out on forty-six minutes but couldn’t do anything with it and then Ant Walker was held up a few minutes later. Max Jowitt had moved to full back in the second half, and he was being put under pressure with kicks from Jordy Gibson. When Trinity started the fight again the Lions defence was good until Olpherts scored his second after a good offload by Jowitt and he raced in at the corner with Jowitt converting. Hood knocked on at the restart but again the Trinity defence held out and with ten minutes to go Kay produced a try for the impressive Boothroyd on the right but again no conversion as it struck the post. Trinity were coming strong in the final minutes of the game and Rodwell scored a nice try running the angles and Jowitt converted. With just a couple of minutes left some good play and passing saw Rodwell complete his hat trick and Jowitt topped off a good afternoon with another conversion. LIONS 1 Dan Abram 3 Jake Spedding 28 Brad Hammond 4 Jayden Hatton 5 Rhys Williams 16 Lewis Hall 7 Jordy Gibson 10 Gavin Bennion 14 Josh Eaves 13 Mikey Wood 8 Liam Cooper 12 Mitch Cox 33 Leon Cowen Subs (all used) 31 Ciaran Nolan 24 Jordan Case 26 Ant Walker 20 Jack Houghton TRINITY 5 Lachlan Walmsley 22 Jack Croft 4 Iain Thornley 3 Oli Pratt 32 Derrell Olpherts 1 Max Jowitt 14 Liam Kay 18 Ky Rodwell 9 Liam Hood 8 Josh Bowden 11 Matty Ashurst 20 Toby Boothroyd 13 Jay Pitts Subs (all used) 10 Renouf Atoni 16 Matthieu Cozza 19 Isaiah Vagana 21 Thomas Doyle Tries: Ashurst (4), Walmsley (8), Olpherts (16,62), Pitts (21), Rodwell (27,75,78), Vagana (30), Kay (38), Boothroyd (70) Goals: Jowitt 8/11 Penalty count: 7-5 Half-time: 0-38 Referee: Michael Smaill Attendance: 1048

News

LIONS IN LATE LOSS DRAMA AT BARROW

2 weeks ago

BARROW RAIDERS 20 SWINTON LIONS 18 IAN RIGG reporting, Craven Park, Sunday 25 August 2024 The Lions having fought the difficult conditions, and some controversial calls finally fell to defeat in front of the large following of Lions fans. Raiders were playing towards the gale force winds in the first half and they were awarded a penalty in front of the posts on four minutes but the kick from Ryan Shaw did not even reach the posts and held in the wind and came back into play but Jake Spedding managed to ground the ball. Raiders did take the lead three minutes later when former Saint Aaron Smith scored to the left of the posts but the conversion from Shaw again caught the wind and went off target. The Lions hit back on ten minutes when Dan Abram kept his kick low to convert a penalty for dumping in the tackle. Smith claimed his second Raiders try six minutes later going over from short range and Shaw managed to convert this one. The Lions came back strongly when a good move down the left sent Rhys Williams over for his 100th point for the club but the conversion from Abram sailed off target. Raiders went further ahead a few minutes later when the Lions were penalised for a ball steal in front of the posts and Shaw converted. Abram the added another penalty five minutes from the break and a few minutes later the Lions could have levelled the scores when Mikey Wood put in a kick for the corner and Williams chased it, but as it looked like it would roll dead, he knocked it backwards towards the chasing Jayden Hatton, but the Raiders defence got their first. The Lions put Raiders straight back on the attack from the kick off to the second half when the wind caused Jordy Gibson to mis-judge the ball and it ran dead. Gav Rodden put the Lions into the lead for the first time on forty-five minutes when he stole the ball one on one with Luke Broadbent just on halfway and raced away to score by the posts with Abram keeping his conversion low to add the points. It got even better five minutes later when the Lions won a scrum in the Raiders twenty and Gibson sent out a lovely pass for Spedding to score on the right, but this time Abram was unable to convert. An incident went on report on fifty-three minutes when Josh Eaves appeared to be kicked on the floor when he dived on a loose ball. More pressure was coming from the Lions forcing two goal line dropouts, but they couldn’t take the advantage, and it was the Raiders who levelled the score when the Lions gave away a penalty and from the pressure Jarrad Stack crashed in on the right and Shaw added the conversion. Now it was game on again. Raiders took the lead again with six minutes left after George Roby was penalised and sent to the sinbin for a shirt pull and Shaw made no mistake with the kick. The Lions were battling to get out of their own half in the final minutes but defence from the home side kept them where they were. Another incident that involved Shaw and Ant Walker went on report in the final minute. LIONS Abram, Lepori, Spedding, Hatton, Williams, Hall, Gibson, Bennion, Roby, Houghton, Rodden, Cox, Wood. Subs: Eaves, Case, Walker, Cooper Referee: Kevin Moore Penalties: 11-8 Half-Time: 12-8 Attendance: 1,495

Sponsors

Sale FC
Roadflash
Primus Traffic Management
Glossop Caravans
ROODSAFE
Created by Rugby League World Cup England 2021
Camway Installations
Daisymill Technologies
Swinton Lions Supporters Trust