YORK City Knights Ladies will have a series of open training sessions next month as they seek to build on the success of the 2021 season.

The Knights have seen a dramatic upturn in fortune since the arrival of director of rugby Lindsay Anfield and several high-profile players earlier this year.

Having won just one game through the entire 2019 league season, the Knights reached the Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup final and the Betfred Women’s Super League play-off semi-finals earlier this year.

Anfield’s side are hoping to continue their upward progression next year and remain on the look-out for new talent.

The sessions will not be limited to players already involved in rugby league and the club are open to athletes who participate in other sports, with the women’s game currently containing a raft of cross-sport stars.

“The girls have now got a couple of weeks completely off now,” Anfield said of the team’s off-season plans. “Then they will be given some individual programmes to make sure that they’re still ticking over and improving in their own time, away from the club.

“We’ve got three weeks of open training sessions at the end of November.

“We will open it up to anyone from any team or sport to come and give it a go and hopefully we might pick up some good athletes from that.

“It’s not a one-off game, it’ll be a series of game-based stuff, even looking at the mentality side of it.

“There’s been a lot of cross-code players in the sport. St Helens have got a (former) swimmer and netballer. Leeds have got cricketers and we’ve got rugby union players.

“It’s about trying to tap into other sports and, with rugby league being on the up, trying to engage more people into the sport through York City Knights.

“Then, in January we’ll start our proper pre-season for the 2022 campaign.”