Hall of Fame call-up for 1996 women's rugby league team

Jane Banks and Michelle Land were also inducted on an individual basis, 28 years after the team clinched a 2-1 series win in Australia – a feat no Great Britain side has since achieved.

Twenty-four players and four coaching staff were present at the ceremony at The Edge, Wigan, on 22 October, which was hosted by Tanya Arnold and Dave Woods.

They took to the stage to be presented with a scroll marking their induction by Denis Betts, coach of Wigan Warriors Women and part of the hugely successful Wigan team of the 1980s and 90s.

The 1996 GB team in the tunnel. Picture courtesy of Julie Cronin Lisa McIntosh and Brenda Dobek. Picture courtesy of the Kitchin family

It came two years after they received their caps for which they had waited 26 years with Sam Pearson and Lucia Stott awarded theirs on the night.

Several women played in Bradford including Lisa McIntosh, who was the first black woman to captain a Great Britain side in any major sport, Chantel Patrick, Nicki Harrison, Mandy Downey (nee Green), Sam Pearson and Vicky Fisher (nee Studd).

McIntosh was among the first three women, alongside Brenda Dobek – who coached and played for Wakefield Panthers – and Sally Milburn (Barrow) to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022.

The former Halifax player recalled the camaraderie in the lead-up to the tour as they raised £50,000 as well as their time in Australia.

“It was a privilege,” she said of being captain. “They worked hard, we worked hard for each other.”

Neither were the team conscious they were blazing a trail and had set in motion a legacy for the women’s game that has evolved beyond recognition.

“We were just playing the game, we had no idea,” said McIntosh. “It was 28 years ago.

“We went out there, we went out to give a good account of ourselves, we won 2-1, we came back and moved on with our lives.

L-R: Michelle Land and Tanya Arnold. Picture courtesy of Elizabeth Byrnes L-R: Michelle Land, Brenda Dobek and Jane Banks

“Back to work, back to playing club rugby until the next tour so it wasn’t until two years ago when we were inducted into the Hall of Fame that it became a bit of a reality of what we actually had done.

“Now you see the girls playing rugby today and it’s grown so much and we were part of that so it’s a real honour, a real privilege.”

Banks was the youngest team member, turning 17 during the tour.

She started playing senior rugby league at 13 and starred for Warrington, Wigan St Pats, Hindley Pumas and Bradford Thunderbirds.

Proudly sporting a Hall of Fame tattoo on her arm, Banks recalled the moment she learned of her double induction via a phone call from Julia Lee, founder of Women in Rugby League.

She said: “I just remember Julia ringing me up and I was walking round the garden with my head in my hands going ‘I can’t believe this’ and she said ‘there’s more news’ and she told us about the team as well.

“It took me a good week or two for it even to sink in. I knew it was a huge honour and a privilege to be inducted but it did take quite a while for me to go wow.

“But also, to realise what we did, where we came from and where we are now and how the game has developed.

“We sort of were the pioneers and without what we did, who knows where the game would have gone?”

Land captained Wakefield Panthers, the most successful club in women’s rugby league history, for 14 years as well as representing Great Britain on 16 occasions.

She said: “If you told me when I was 18 and first started playing that I’d be here getting this award, I just wouldn’t think it’d be realistic.

“But it is and I’m so proud to be amongst players that have got it.

“Especially the 96 team as well: we went out there not knowing what to expect but we had trust in each other – if something went wrong you could always turn to somebody or somebody’s got your back and it were like a little family.”