Wigan Warriors captain makes passionate stance on Challenge Cup win with unique first against St Helens

 

Wigan Warriors captain Vicky Molyneux cut an incredibly proud figure in the post-match press conference after she lifted the Women’s Challenge Cup at Wembley.

 

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The Warriors ran in seven tries through different scorers to end St Helens’ four-year dominance in the Cup, whilst earning the first competition success under the famous Wembley arch thanks to a 42-6 win over their rivals on Saturday afternoon.

 

Speaking in the post-match press conference, Molyneux’s pride was bursting through her voice, and she couldn’t take the smile off her face.

 

 

 

“It’s such a difficult question to answer, to be honest,” she replied when asked what lifting Cup win means to her by Wigan Today.

 

“I signed for this club in 2019, and I’ve never beaten Saints, so to do it today feels really good. They’re a tough team, who are inundated with internationals, a physical team with experienced athletes, and we were the better side by far.

 

“I got asked this week ‘Did you believe this would happen?’ Obviously, if I looked a long time ago, never would I believe that I would play at Wembley, but did I believe that we’d do the job today? 100 per cent, we felt ready and looked ready.

 

“Denis (Betts) said in the changing rooms before the game that he was proud of us no matter what, and we genuinely believed that. The club have invested so much into us, so it just means the world to go out there.

 

 

 

“Kris Radlinski (Wigan CEO) said to us, ‘remember, you are just going out there on a grass pitch playing rugby with your mates’ and that’s what it felt like. We just all worked together, it felt like we were all in sync, and every single person who took to the field left everything out there, we earned it, and we deserved it.

 

“I remember a few years ago when we were at the start of that building phase. I remember saying to Rachel (Thompson) ‘How are we going to get these girls, who are so young, to believe they can beat teams like St Helens, Leeds and York, who have experienced and established international athletes?’.

 

“We didn’t really know the answer, but we just said we need to keep being positive and believing in the process. We’ve prepped so well this week, and we are all quite nervous characters in there, and Grace (Banks, fullback) gets very nervous, but she felt really relaxed today, and I said, ‘it’s because we’re ready’.

 

“The aim was to get to a final, and once you get to that final point, you can only back your defence and take your chances when they come, and we did that. We kept it simple, we were clinical, we trusted the process, and I thought our performance was outstanding.”

 

 

 

Molyneux, whose father Jim represented the Wigan club between 1968 and 1972, juggles life as a mum and her full-time job as a teacher alongside her playing duties with the Warriors, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

“I never use the word sacrifice, I don’t like it, it’s a choice,” said Molyneux. “If I decide not to go out on a bender on a Saturday night because I’ve got rugby the week after, then that’s my choice, I don’t sacrifice anything.

 

“The girls have a common purpose, we had a long pre-season and we came under a little bit of criticism from other clubs, but this is what we wanted to do, we know what we’re signing up for.

 

“It’s not pressure as such when you pull on a Wigan shirt, but it’s the expectancy and that desire to win trophies, and that’s what we’ve wanted for a long time.

 

 

 

“We are fully on board with what we want to achieve, and the girls have worked so hard because we love each other and we love doing what we do.

 

“It is difficult and tiring at times, but in one of our pre-season meetings with Denis was that we need to focus, and I feel like that little bit of focus has put us in really good stead to be sitting here now with a gold medal and not a silver one.”

 

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