YORK City Knights Ladies are out to “shock a few people” and “prove them wrong” in this weekend’s clash with Leeds Rhinos, according to Savannah Andrade.

York take on Leeds at Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium on Sunday (2.30pm) for a place in the Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup final.

The Rhinos enter the match as favourites given their standing in the recognised top two of the women’s game, alongside St Helens.

Two of the last three Challenge Cups have been won by Leeds, who were also the 2019 league champions. Saints meanwhile won the treble last year and they face Featherstone Rovers in the other final four encounter.

The Knights though are aiming to spoil the party on Sunday and reach consecutive Challenge Cup finals with an upset win over Leeds.

“I’ve seen that all over Twitter, people believing that there’s three top teams in our league but believing that the final will be between Saints and Leeds,” said York centre Andrade.

“Hopefully we can shock a few people and show them what we’re made of. It would nice to prove them wrong.

“Apart from St Helens, Leeds were the only team to beat us last year. We know that Leeds are a very strong team and we don’t want to lose again.

“We’re more prepared this year and we’re a really tight-knit group and everyone knows their role. I believe we’ll put on a better show this year against them.”

The last meeting between York and Leeds saw the Rhinos come from 14-4 behind to prevail as 22-18 winners in 2021’s Betfred Super League play-off semi-final.

“I think we got a little bit complacent and let them take the win, which I thought we should have had, which was a let-down,” recalled England international Andrade.

“I think that was down to a little bit of complacency and fitness towards the end, they seemed to have that second wind.

“Hopefully if we can keep playing to our best and not slack off towards the end, we can get the win.”

Lindsay Anfield’s side have breezed to four straight wins so far in the Cup, scoring almost 300 points and conceding just six in the process.

Andrade is fully aware that a far bigger challenge awaits York this weekend, but insists that the build-up has not dramatically changed as a result.

“We’ve just been trying to keep our cool this week,” she said. “We’ve been doing the usual and not trying to overthink it.

“I think when you start overthinking matches, that’s when nerves come in and you might not perform as well and there’s added pressure.

“Right now, we’re just thinking of it like one of the games we’ve already had and keeping focused.

“Hopefully we can get the win with the squad we put out.”

The semi-finals between York and Leeds and St Helens and Featherstone (5pm) are being staged as a double header at the 15,000-seater Halliwell Jones Stadium ahead of next month’s final at Leeds United’s Elland Road.

Both semi-finals are being streamed by the BBC, a further demonstration of the strides made to improve the coverage and professionalism of women's rugby league.

“You can see how much the women’s game is progressing,” added Andrade. “Last season had such a big push behind women’s rugby league and I believe that that is just going to continue.

“There’s been such a big change in the women’s game and we’re getting streamed on television. Let’s just hope it continues.

“It’d be nice to get to Elland Road. Again, that just shows how much the men are behind us and how much they want to push the women’s game.”