2026 Women’s Challenge Cup final: Wigan and St Helens meet in 2025 rematch

The end of an era is coming for St Helens and the farewell tour begins on Saturday.

In the lead-up to the trip to the capital, England’s most-capped women’s international rugby league players Jodie Cunningham and Emily Rudge announced they are to retire at the end of the season.

Cunningham is the current St Helens and England skipper and has 34 international caps, one more than Saints vice-captain Rudge, who also led her country from 2018 to 2023.

Both have been with Saints since the formation of the women’s side eight years ago, and have 197 appearances for the club between them.

“I think [some people] never really know when it’s your last game, you don’t know when it’s your last final and you don’t know when it’s the last time you lift a trophy,” Cunningham, the 2021 Woman of Steel award winner, told BBC Sport.

“We’d already made the decision a while back, that this would be our last year, and I think just getting to the final, we wanted to be authentic this week, enjoy it for what it is and knowing that it’s our last, which is a really fortunate position to be in.”

Cunningham has led St Helens to a league title, two League Leaders’ Shields, and four consecutive Women’s Challenge Cups between 2021 and 2024 but in her pursuit of one more victory at Wembley, she says it will be no solo effort should they beat Wigan.

“There’s absolutely no question that this is all just about the team,” she added.

“So while we’ll have our own emotional journey we’re going through, everything is about focusing on the team and making sure we put a good performance out there – and if that happens, then it’ll be a nice ending.”