Clubs urged to follow Leeds Rhinos' lead after England's Women's Rugby League World Cup exit

Richards announced his exit after England’s 20-6 semi-final defeat by New Zealand in front of a 7,139 crowd at York on Monday.

The Yorkshire Evening Post understands the RFL’s head of England pathways (female) Stuart Barrow, who had a spell on Castleford Tigers’ coaching staff early in his career, is set to take over.

In a major step forward, Rhinos, the Betfred Women’s Super League champions, have confirmed they will pay win bonuses and incentives from next season.

“Professionalism is the answer,” Richards said of how England can close the gap on the Kiwi Ferns and Australia’s Jillaroos, who are preparing to meet in their fourth successive final this weekend.

“I hope [other clubs will begin paying players]. I think they deserve it and I hope that’s the way it goes.”

But Richards insisted: “On the back of payment, being professional isn’t about finances and money; it’s about behaviours. I just hope the players who do get the financial reward embrace it and recognise what being professional is.”

England led 6-0 early in the semi-final, through a converted touchdown by Rhinos’ Fran Goldthorp, but New Zealand proved too strong over the 80 minutes.

After winning all their group games, England were much more competitive in the semi-final than five years ago, when they were crushed 52-4 by the same opponents.

Richards admitted his first objective when he took the job was to “just get close to them”, but stressed: “A year or two in, my attitude was ‘we’re not going to get close, we are going to beat them’.

“I thought we had the side to beat them and I thought we would do. People have said ‘you’ve closed the gap’, but that’s not good enough.

“I’ve not spent five years trying to close the gap, I’ve spent five years trying to win a World Cup.”

But Richards conceded: “At times the competition doesn’t help. You have all the talent in two or three sides.

“There needs to be more work done to strengthen the sides that are behind, until you get to the stage where you have to fight in every Super League game, for a win, for a yardage, for a tackle, for a wrestle. Until you get that you are going to struggle to catch [New Zealand and Australia].”

Australia’s elite female league, the NRLW, is a professional competition and Richards believes all England’s squad are good enough to play at that level.

“I don’t think there’s any of that 24 who wouldn’t thrive in an NRLW side,” he claimed. “Some would more than thrive, but for me it’s not about being a feeder club for the NRLW, we need to strengthen our competition.”

Preparations will now begin for the next World Cup in France in three years’ time and Richards feels young players including Goldthorpe and her Leeds clubmates Caitlin Beevers and Georgia Roche will be better for the experience gained this month.

“I think they’ll be able to dust themselves down and go again, but we need even more quality,” he said.