LINDSAY ANFIELD has outlined her plans to develop York City Knights Ladies and, in doing so, help boost the profile of the ladies' game as a whole.

The Knights welcomed Anfield as their new director of rugby late last month, with Callum Windley and current Knights' men's first-team player Adam Cuthbertson also announced among the backroom staff.

Anfield's quest to level up the women's game began at Castleford Tigers Women, her previous club, and she says she has hit the ground running in York thanks to the club's professional attitude, "raw talent" in the side and the support of chairman Jon Flatman.

"Not that many women's teams have the club's backing - it's kind of a tick-box exercise. The aim (at York) is a one-club mentality of having men's and women's teams that are striving for success," she commented, admitting: "Maybe it did take Jon a little while to convince me that he wasn't just trying to recruit me to do something. He is backing it with big ideas, innovative processes and things he's going to put in place for the girls that are groundbreaking.

"We're under no illusions that that's going to raise the standard of the game across the park.

"I feel like at Cas, we started it off by doing little things like putting names on backs of shirts and playing out of stadiums. As you start doing things, other clubs look and think, 'We could do that. Why don't we?'

"It's only by clubs stepping out of their comfort zone and doing things like that that other clubs follow.

"That's our aim - not just to back the York women's team but, for me personally, to increase the standards of women's rugby league across the park so we can compete better on an international scene.

"It's looking really positive and I'm excited to see what we can do."

On her reasons for joining the club, Anfield said: "The club's got massive ambitions, bigger ambitions than I've ever heard from a club to do with rugby league - it was that really.

"Jon's vision and ambition to do big things and treat the women's game with a lot of respect was the main thing I would say.

"He's a really genuine man. He broke it down simply, saying about the club in 2016 and the dire straits it was in, renovating the men's team innovatively, his work in getting the stadium up and running and getting the Knights involved with that.

"Now his priority is getting the women's team where it needs to be. If I can be part of the club and supporting that then it's fantastic for me as well."

The ladies today face Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals. Before that, the side signalled their ambition with a raft of signings, including England international Kelsey Gentles.

Anfield has stressed that this is a long-term project but, with time, she is hopeful of good results.

"There's some really good raw talent," she said. "They just don't have strength in depth. York is just off the M62 corridor and so they only pull from a small pool.

"But with the facilities they've got, the stadium and the backing, I'm sure in the next 12 months, two years, three years, we can do some really special things and get the team where Jon wants them to be - where the club deserves to be.

"We've got to look at the culture they're working in and professionalise the provision.

"The facilities are there. The girls just need upskilling and to understand that although it's amateur, it's still elite.

"I think they just need clear leadership and direction of what to do to get to the next level and hopefully that's what I can support with and lead on."