YORK Valkyrie outside back Emma Kershaw has been ruled out of Sunday’s Betfred Women’s Super League Grand Final against St Helens with a ruptured spleen.

Lindsay Anfield’s side will travel to the Totally Wicked Stadium (4:30pm), hoping to both become the first team to win back-to-back Grand Finals and deny Saints the treble.

But they will have to do so without Kershaw - their second-highest scorer with 20 tries this season - after a collision with Wigan Warriors' Eva Hunter last month brought a premature end to her campaign.

The Wigan forward was sent to the sin bin for the in-air tackle, deemed “reckless” by Anfield, and missed her side’s Play-off Semi-Final against St Helens as a result.

“Emma’s got a ruptured spleen,” the Valkyrie boss confirmed to The Press. “She can’t even jog!

“It’s a result of that tackle at Wigan unfortunately.

“We didn’t realise at the time, we thought it was just her shoulder because she landed on her shoulder. It wasn’t until a few days later that she had some discomfort and some difficulty breathing and she was admitted to hospital.

“ They found out that she’d ruptured her spleen, and it was bleeding pretty badly. She had to have a couple of days in hospital, but now she’s out.

“It’s just such a shame for her because she has been one of the most consistent performers all season.

“It’s sad that she’s not going to be featuring, but at the same time, she needs to get herself right.”

Tamzin Renouf (centre) is available despite her sin bin against Leeds Rhinos in last month's Play-off Semi-Final. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography) York though will be able to call upon centre turned half-back Tamzin Renouf following her sin bin in their dramatic 12-10 victory at Leeds Rhinos.

And Fijian centre Manqualo Komaitai is set for her first minutes since June following a period of unavailability due to her Army commitments, having been named in the club's 21-player squad.

“We’re really happy she didn’t get any retrospective action,” Anfield admitted of Renouf’s yellow card at Headingley.

“I thought ‘if she gets a sin bin it might be sending off sufficient’ which it was, and which we were really pleased about.

“But everyone else is fit and well apart from Emma Kershaw and the others - Galey [Liv Gale], Peachy [Sinead Peach], Tara [Jane Stanley] and Ash Hyde who have been out for a while now.

“They're fighting fit and raring to go.”

York Valkyrie to face St Helens: Andrade, Bell, Brennan, Eastwood, Exley, Gentles, Hetherington, Izumi, Komaitai, Marshall, Owen, Pakulis, Parker, Partington, Renouf, Rihari, Roberts, Sharp, Stimpson, Wilton, Wood.