PWR Press Conference: Barney Maddison and Niamh Gallagher

Ahead of Round Eleven in the PWR, Head Coach Barney Maddison and fullback Niamh Gallagher answered questions from the press. 

Trailfinders Women face Sale Sharks Women this weekend in Round Eleven of the PWR. Maddison and Gallagher spoke to the press ahead of the Valentine’s Day fixture.

When asked about how he thought the season was unfolding so far for Trailfinders, Maddison said: 

‘What the results show is exactly how competitive this league is and I think on anyone’s day, everyone can beat each other. We’ve had a couple of really close results and a couple of them could have swung the other way. The results just shows how competitive this league is and that’s probably why it’s the best women’s rugby league in the world in my opinion.’

Niamh Gallagher added: 

‘You can see how the league has become tighter over the last few years, especially this season. It’s way more competitive now than it ever has been.’

When asked about the upcoming game against seventh place Sale Sharks this weekend, Maddison said: 

‘Obviously we’ve had a couple of really close games. Every game is going to count massively now and picking up any kind of point whether it’s home or away is huge.

‘It’s another massive game against Sale. They’ve had some really close results as well over the past couple of weeks. Again, they obviously played in really tough conditions last Saturday as well against Gloucester-Hartpury. It’s going to be a massive game.’

Last weekend, Niamh Gallagher slotted the conversion that levelled the result against Bristol and gave Trailfinders a draw after clawing back a first half deficit. The fullback offered her thoughts on her performance against the Bears: 

‘We had a lot to do to come back in the second half against Bristol. I was proud of the kick in performance in that game against Bristol to make sure we got the three points in the end. We came out fighting and just going into Sale, we need to bring that fighting from when the whistle goes at the beginning of the game.’

Ahead of this weekend’s game against Sale, Gallagher added: 

‘I think just sticking to the game plan, playing heads up rugby, seeing what’s in front will be important in this game. You don’t know what they’re going to bring. But it’s just about playing in the right areas of the pitch.’