A place in next weekend’s Grand Final at Wigan Warriors is up for grabs when Leeds Rhinos face York Valkyrie at AMT Headingley this afternoon (Friday).

Like Rhinos’ men, the women finished second in Super League - a climb of two places from last year - to secure a home semi-final, despite a sticky patch of results at the end of the campaign. Having beaten York twice at home earlier in the season, Leeds suffered an 18-14 defeat there last month which began a run of four successive losses going into Friday’s tie.

But three of those defeats were by a converted try or less and Australian stand-off Mel Howard reckons Rhinos aren’t far from finding their best form. “We’re looking forward to it,” she said of the sudden-death play-off. “We’ve not been at our best the last few games so we’ll be trying to bounce back and hopefully play as we know we can.”

Rhinos women’s end to the league season was strikingly similar to the men’s and Howard admitted: “I am not sure what’s in the water at Leeds at the moment, but we know what we can produce and how good we are. It is a very young squad and I think that’s probably good to forget the bad games quickly and regroup. We’ve built a lot of confidence throughout the season and we’ll take that into this week.

Leeds Rhinos' Mel Howard and Petra Wood, of York Valkyrie, with the Betfred Women's Super League trophy. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

placeholder image — Leeds Rhinos' Mel Howard and Petra Wood, of York Valkyrie, with the Betfred Women's Super League trophy. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

“We are in a bit of a rough patch, there’s lots to learn and a few things to improve, but we are always looking to get better as a team. We know how we can play, so hopefully we will show up and do our jobs.”

St Helens seemed set to be Leeds’ semi-final opponents after their 24-22 win at Headingley last Saturday, but Valkyrie shattered their hopes with a 26-12 defeat of previously unbeaten Wigan the following day. Howard insisted she isn’t surprised to be involved in a Yorkshire derby this week, live on Sky Sports and refereed by Denton Arnold.

“I quite like how York play and how they go about things,” she said. “They are a very grindy team. I think a lot of people were shocked they beat Wigan, but they have found a bit of form at the right time in the season and it’s exciting to play them when they are at their best.”

Leeds Rhinos' Mel Howard kicks a conversion against York Valkyrie last month. Picture by Matthew Merrick/SWpix.com.

Last week’s result means whoever wins on Friday will go into the Grand Final with renewed confidence. “It’s very exciting,” Howard stressed. “York turned them over so they aren’t invincible.

“I am definitely expecting Wigan to bounce back from that and tidy up a few things, but if we make the Grand Final we want to beat teams who are playing at their best and hopefully we play at our best too and come out on top.”

Coach Lois Forsell has made just one change to her initial squad with Nicole Kennedy returning in place of Amelia Hirst, who didn’t play last week.

Leeds Rhinos women (v York Valkyrie): from Enright, Stead, Cousins, Whitehead, Howard, Walker, Donnelly, Bennett, Glynn, Owen, Murray, Brown, Bruce, Boyd, Short, Bryer, Blakey, Naidole, Elliston, Kennedy, Sykes.

Kick-off: Friday, 5.15pm. Referee: Denton Arnold (St Helens).