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.

“When Steve told me he wanted me to come and take Barrow into Super League, I thought he was deluded,” Wilkinson told the PA news agency.

“When I took my first session I wondered what I’d done. We went through some ugly stages, but that group of girls I got on my first night, their commitment, their enthusiasm and their effort has got them where they are today.”

Neale’s ambition was realised last October when Barrow beat Leigh 14-8 in their Group 2 play-off final at the York Community Stadium, to seal their place among the giants of the women’s game like York Valkyrie, Leeds and St Helens.

Having previously worked extensively with Leeds Rhinos, and spent 14 years at Wigan whom she coached to the first Women’s Grand Final in 2018, Wilkinson has always been at the vanguard of the growth of the women’s game.

But it is her success within the men’s code, having led UCLan to consecutive promotions and risen through various coaching levels alongside the likes of current men’s Super League coaches Matt Peet and Paul Rowley, that sets her career path apart.

Wilkinson, 50, admits she would relish the opportunity one day of breaking the final boundary and becoming the first female coach of a men’s fully professional outfit.

“When I started my coaching career the women’s game was only played at grassroots level, so if I wanted to do performance coaching I could only do it with men’s teams,” she says.

“I’ve hit a few brick walls and the doors have opened a bit differently for me. Undoubtedly, I’ve had to work that little bit harder to get where I am.

“It’s still a male-dominated sport but the men’s game is my comfort zone, so I’m stepping out of it a bit at Barrow.

“I’m convinced that I could coach at the highest level, but who knows if it would work out because it’s never been done.

“Maybe I’ll get that chance one day, but for now I’m coaching a women’s team in Super League and I’m loving it.”

Barrow start their first top-flight campaign with a trip to Wigan, coached by former Warriors and England star Denis Betts, on April 19. Defending champions York Valkyrie start against title rivals St Helens two days later.