England vs Australia is always a heated rivalry, but Hollie-Mae Dodd is ready for it to reach another level when the two sides clash in Las Vegas, live on Sky Sports.
Dodd is one of England women’s star names that heads out to Sin City to take part in a groundbreaking weekend of rugby league action at Allegiant Stadium, with two NRL contests, Wigan Warriors vs Warrington Wolves in Super League, and the international clash between the two women’s outfits (Sunday March 2, 2am UK time).
While England and Australia facing off is a rarity, Dodd is in a unique position amongst the England squad due to her competing full-time in the WNRL for Canberra Raiders since 2023 and playing members of the world no 1 Jillaroos on a regular basis.
England have edged ever closer to competing with the Southern hemisphere sides, dating back to the semi-final appearance against New Zealand at the Rugby League World Cup in 2022, with Dodd seeing Vegas as the perfect test for the top stars in the Northern Hemisphere to see where they currently stand.
“I’ve played against some of the girls that are currently playing for Australia, obviously, last year and the year before that,” Dodd told Sky Sports.
“So I’ll have that little insight of knowledge of how the players perform over there. But I know the girls over here, they’ve been training hard. And obviously, they’re currently in the pre-season for the Super League.
“They are training hard at their clubs as well. We all just come together with our little knowledge that we’ve got from our clubs and, you know, combine that.
“Some of the girls in this squad haven’t actually played against Australia. I’ve never played against them. And I know some of the Australians haven’t actually played against England.
“So, it will be a really good test for ourselves and to see where we’re at. It was disappointing to losing that match against New Zealand (in the World Cup), because I thought it was such a good contest.
“To go over to America and play against Australia will be a really good experience to see where we are at.”
Viva the growth of women’s rugby league
While England will be going into the contest looking to cause an upset and play their best rugby, it is not lost on Dodd what a significant and seminal moment it will be for the sport. Eyes on the women’s match are expected to be massive, with a bumper crowd packing out the Allegiant stadium for an action-packed day of rugby league.
“Oh, it’s huge,” Dodd added. “We won’t have ever played in front of a crowd like that before.
“Obviously, there’s a few games on beforehand, so hopefully they stay to watch the women’s game as well. It will be so good for the development of the game over there and over here, to be honest.
“You have got the men’s games before and after, so that allows people to stay around to watch the women’s game. Some of us won’t have ever played in front of that many people before, so that’ll be really exciting.
“We have been looking forward to it for quite a while now and it allows us to see where we’re at and get that preparation in place. And I think, obviously, playing against Australia is such a big step up for us.
“The last game we played was against Wales and we need to test ourselves a bit more. I think playing in front of such a big crowd and hopefully performing well over there will test us on where we’re at.
“The girls are very committed and they do it because they love the sport. So, I think, obviously, the passion they’ve got for the sport allows us to kick on and try and compete with them.”
“Obviously, we know how big the occasion is at the minute but I think we’re just trying to focus on ourselves.
“As soon as the girls head over there and see how big the stadium is and hear the crowd and things like that, I think there’ll be a few nerves in the air, yeah, definitely.”
2025 Super League – key dates and what to look out for
March 1: Wigan Warriors vs Warrington Wolves in Las Vegas
April 17-19: Round 8 – Rivals Round
May 3-4: Magic Round (St James’ Park, Newcastle)
July 24: August 31 – Round 20 – split round across two weekends
September 4-7: Round 25 – Rivals Round fixtures reversed
September 18-21: Round 27 – last round of regular season (dates and times tbc)
September 26-27: Elimination Play-Offs
October 3-4: Semi-Finals
Saturday October 11: Grand Final (Old Trafford)
Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+. Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
