Women's rugby team celebrate win with bus parade

The winners of the Women's Super League rugby championships held a victory lap around York in an open top bus on Friday.

The York Valkyrie squad toured the city parading the Super League Trophy in a yellow York Pullman as they celebrated their win against St Helens.

After winding through the streets, the bus made its way to the Mansion House for a civic reception - this is the second year in a row York Valkyrie has won the competition.

The team's player of the year Savannah Andrade said the parade had been "brilliant".

Her teammate Georgie Hetherington said the team had "never expected" to come away with consecutive trophies.

"It’s still pretty surreal.

"I don’t think we ever expected to do as well as we did."

She said the odds had been stacked against them.

"We just went out there and played solely for each other and for the journey that we’re on together as a group.

"To win the Grand Final with all the adversity we had gone through it just meant the world to us."

Team chairman Clint Goodchild said the parade was well deserved and it had been a "pretty special night".

"There’s an old saying - if you’re good enough, you’re old enough - and they’ve certainly shown that some of these girls who’ve come up and represented the club, they did as though they’ve been doing it for 20 years.

"It was impressive."

He added the team was already looking towards a third Grand Final win in 2025.

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