Leigh Leopards are delighted to confirm that Storm Cobain will be the new captain of the Women’s team as they embark on their first season in the Betfred Women’s Super League.
Ireland international Storm takes over the role from Mairead Quinn who is expecting her first child.
Storm capped an outstanding debut season with the Leopards by lifting the prestigious Woman of Steel award at the team’s presentation evening. Her team went through their league season unbeaten before winning three grand finals in successive weeks to earn promotion the hard way.
Head Coach Kieron Purtill explained the thinking behind her appointment.
“Storm joined us towards the end of the 2023 season after moving from Luton,” he said. “Unfortunately, she signed after the deadline and couldn’t play until 2024, but she turned up at every training session and match and straight away you could see the level of intensity and commitment she put into training.
“We saw that on the field in 2024 when her performances were excellent. She maintained her standards off the field and drove standards on the field. She also excelled as vice-captain of the Ireland team.
“She has shown enormous commitment by moving from the south to live locally and she is a great role model for the team and the young girls in our town who dream of playing for Leigh Leopards.
“From a captain’s point of view, you can’t question her commitment, effort or levels of performance and off the field she always puts her hand up to attend presentations and represent the club.
“So, it was an easy decision to make and was supported by the other coaches and the members of the team. She will be supported by her great friend Mairead.
“Storm is an on-field leader and a training leader, and I don’t want her to change her game.”
Storm played rugby union in her native Ireland and in the south of England before first playing Rugby League in the summer months at Bedford. Her progress was such that she was soon picked for Ireland where she teamed up with Mairead Quinn, who persuaded her to join Leigh.
Explaining how she felt about taking over the captaincy role Storm said: “When Kieron asked me, I was surprised as I definitely was not expecting it.
“It was absolutely devastating to lose Mairead, but she’s got more important things to worry about right now. I’ll support her completely in that.
“It’s nice to have Mairead’s support, Kieron’s support and the coaches backing me and I know the girls will support me 100 per cent of the way.
“Hopefully I will emulate some of Mairead’s success as captain and keep this going in the right direction for our team.
“At the moment it feels surreal to be the first captain of our Super League team. There’s a lot of excitement and a few nerves. I’m quite vocal on the pitch and always competitive on and off the pitch. In the gym I’m a competitive person and I’ll continue that way.”
Leopards have two warm up games planned for March, begin their Betfred Challenge Cup campaign in April and their Super League season in May.
“We are now deep into pre-season and are doing lots of running and lots of weights,” Storm added. “We got back together in mid-November so didn’t have much of a rest from winning the grand final.
“We are all excited for the forthcoming season and are working hard to be in the best possible shape.
“Last season we were very professional in our approach to games so not a lot has changed. We will keep that professional approach. We expect the competition to be a bit different and it will be more intense, but it will be exciting.
“The support we got last season was great and really helped us and I’m sure the women’s game will continue to grow. We hope to see some new faces as well because it’s a great sport and a great day out.”
