SMASHING through rugby league’s long-established gender barriers has become second nature to Amanda Wilkinson, who is preparing to lead Barrow Raiders Ladies in their first season in the top level of the Women’s Super League next month.

A full-time high performance coach of the men’s team at the University of Central Lancashire, as well as the first woman to achieve the Level 3 coaching qualification, Wilkinson might appear undaunted by anything the game could throw at her.

But the Ulverston-born coach admitted she seriously questioned her judgement shortly after accepting Barrow chairman Steve Neale’s challenge to take the first Cumbrian team into the sport’s top flight towards the tail-end of 2021.