YORK Valkyrie will not be taking anything for granted when they welcome Warrington Wolves to the LNER Community Stadium this lunchtime (12pm).

Lindsay Anfield’s side return to home soil after bouncing back from their first consecutive defeats in three years with a 50-12 hammering of Huddersfield Giants last weekend.

Winger Emma Kershaw scored her second hat-trick of the Betfred Women’s Super League season - and her second in as many years at Laund Hill - whilst Eboni Partington and teenage debutant Izzy Brennan twice crossed the whitewash.

Bettie Lambert, Jess Sharp and Carrie Roberts also added their names to the scoresheet for the Valkyrie, with the latter also on target with five of her attempts from the tee in the absence of regular kicker Tara Jane Stanley through injury.

Anfield is excited to return to the LNER Community Stadium for the first time since their 16-10 defeat to Leeds Rhinos three weeks ago, in what will be the first match of a triple header that sees York Knights welcome Widnes Vikings (3pm) before a charity match between OSCAR’s All Stars and Rugby League All Stars (5pm).

“I’m really looking forward to it,” she enthused to The Press.

“It’s a big triple header and there’s lots of rugby to see. The fans are always brilliant when we play at York, so we’re really looking forward to it.”

The Valkyrie will be seeking a fourth consecutive Women’s Super League victory against Warrington, whom they completed a league double over last season.

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A 44-4 triumph in North Yorkshire opened the second day of the Summer Bash event, whilst a 58-10 success in the reverse fixture put Anfield’s side within touching distance of a historic second consecutive League Leaders’ Shield.

But Warrington are enjoying a positive start to the season themselves this time around.

They have a new head coach in Armani Sharrock, whilst wins against newly-promoted Featherstone Rovers and Barrow Raiders have seen them already equal their number of victories in 2023.

“We have had a lot of success against them in the past,” Anfield continued.

“But they’ve got a new coach this year and a lot of new players - they’ve had some good results in the Women’s Super League so far.

“We’ll just prepare for them as we would prepare for any game and make sure that we don’t take anything for granted in terms of previous results.

“We’re aware of where we are at the moment, and it’s about just improving our performances week on week.”

With Warrington having made such strides during the off-season, a more competitive Women’s Super League is a prospect that the Valkyrie boss is relishing.

“It’s good to see the other teams coming in,” she admitted.

“You know that the clubs are committed to the team and they’re putting the coaching resources and money into the women.

“That then makes for a more competitive league.”