York Valkyrie forward Rhiannion Marshall set for special homecoming as she reflects on challenging journey

The York Valkyrie forward played for Doncaster Toll Bar as a junior before leaving her hometown to seek better opportunities.

Marshall has not looked back on her way to two Challenge Cup triumphs and a Super League title with York.

A trip back to Doncaster for the Challenge Cup semi-final against St Helens will remind the 31-year-old just how far she and the women's game have come since playing against boys as a young girl.

"I'm really excited," Marshall told The Yorkshire Post. "I've got about 50 people coming to watch.

"The last time I played in Doncaster would have been when I was 12 years old.

"It was actually quite tough coming through. I played with the boys up until I was 12 because there were no girl teams at all. There was one other girl. I wish I knew her name because it would be nice to get in touch with her.

"I used to wear a scrum cap and all the lads used to think I was a lad! If they knew I was a girl, it didn't make them go any easier on me.

"I stopped playing for a bit when I was 12 until I was about 15 because there were no girl teams.

"When I got a bit older, I could walk to training on my own so I went down to Doncaster Knights to play a bit of rugby union and did England Under-18s and 20s but it just wasn't my thing.

"I met a girl and she took me down to a club in Leeds so I ended up moving over that way."

Marshall has experienced the highs and lows of the Challenge Cup since rediscovering her love for the game at amateur club Stanningley.

The loose forward got her hands on the trophy with Bradford Bulls in 2017 and again the following year in Leeds Rhinos colours.

Marshall has since lost two finals and saw her Wembley dream crushed by St Helens half-back Faye Gaskin in the dying stages of last year's semi-final.

Those memories will be fresh in the minds of the York players in Saturday's rematch in Doncaster.

"It's something we need to learn from," said Marshall, who followed director of rugby Lindsay Anfield from Castleford Tigers to York in 2021.

"We gave them a lot of penalties which led them upfield. That's something we need to sort out.

"We're really hungry to get to Wembley. The last four weeks have been about sharpening our tools to make sure we get there.

"Never in a million years did I think girls would get the chance to play for a place at Wembley yet here we are."

York have had a challenging start to their Super League title defence, seeing off Saints in round one before going down to Leeds last weekend.

The Valkyrie are battle-hardened but know an improvement is required to prevent St Helens from taking another step towards a fourth straight cup triumph.

"We've had two tough games which is great prep going into a semi-final," said Marshall.

"We can take some pros and cons out of our win against St Helens. We absolutely blew them out of the water in the first half and then switched off in the second half. We can't do that this weekend. We need to put in a solid 80-minute performance.

"We've just got to come together and do it. If we keep focused, we're more than capable of doing it."

The battles between York, Saints and Leeds are the highlights of the women's season, with the rest playing catch-up led by Wigan Warriors.

For the players, there is nothing quite like testing themselves against the best of the best.

"It's nice to have competitive games week in, week out," said Marshall.

"Sometimes you can lose your stride when you're playing the other teams and drop to their level. It's hard to stay focused, hyped up and have high energy when you're playing those games.

"I'm not taking any credit away from those teams but it would be so much better if we could just play a Saints or Leeds every week.

"To have competitive games week in, week out just brings the women's game on massively."

Marshall's first Challenge Cup final experience took her to Heworth, where a modest crowd of just over 1,000 watched Bradford comfortably beat Featherstone Rovers in 2017.

Seven years on, York are preparing to take part in a double-header with the men in Doncaster for the ultimate prize of stepping out at Wembley next month.

"If I was 10 years younger, I would have been getting full-time pay in a few years hopefully," said former England international Marshall.

"There are so many opportunities now for the young girls coming through. The journey I've been on has been really hard graft.

"Your mindset is totally different. Some of these girls don't even know they're born. If they did what we did back in the day, they wouldn't be whinging about the facilities we've got now."