Women's head coach Ben Bird looks ahead to Sunday's Rochdale derby

Rochdale Hornets Women return to action this weekend for the first time in 2026, travelling to Rochdale Mayfield in Round 1 of the Women’s Challenge Shield.

Women's head coach Ben Bird looks ahead to Sunday's Rochdale derby.

It will be the first time the Hornets Women have played a match since defeating Mayfield in last season's play-off final at Odsal, earning promotion to the Women’s Northern League One.

Ahead of Sunday's game, we sat down with women's head coach Ben Bird to get his views on how the squad is shaping up, and his expectations for the year ahead.

Firstly, how's the excitement within the group as you prepare to take to the field again this week?

The girls are champing at the bit to be honest.

It's a long off-season, and with not having friendlies in an effort to respect the union season, we’re holding them back and going straight into competitive games, so we're all excited to get going again.

Squad-wise, there's a mix of new and returning faces for 2026, with more players still to be announced. How excited are you by the blend of the group, and how confident are you that some of the girls retained can really rise to the challenge of the league above once the new season begins?

Pretty much as soon as last season was finished, we were looking at what we needed to do to be competitive in 2026.

The squad we had last year was incredible. They all bought into the environment massively and the style of rugby we wanted to play.

We have lost a few though injuries and from people moving on, so recruitment was going to be important. Having the dual-registration Leigh girls come on board full-time is a huge statement for us, and gives us the consistency we sometimes lacked.

We have some exciting new girls coming in though, and there's going to be competition for shirts right across the pitch. I'm hoping that on its own will boost everyone.

For now, it's all about the cup and a game against Rochdale Mayfield - a side you know pretty well. The two of you had a real battle in last season's promotion final, so are you expecting more of the same this weekend?

As much is made of the Mayfield rivalry, there’s a lot of respect both ways, and personal relationships across both squads.

I personally respect Mayfield as a club that does great things for the game in Rochdale, with the girls section especially thriving.

In terms of Sunday and what to expect, I'm sure it'll be as feisty as the last two times we've played. We'll obviously be looking to come away with the win, but these occasions are almost more important than the result.

As long as everyone walks away and the girls' family and friends are proud, a win is almost secondary.