Meet Wigan Warriors' mum and daughter off to Wembley after reaching Women's Challenge Cup final

The 19-year-old fullback played an influential role in Wigan’s emphatic 44-14 win over Leeds in York on Saturday, racking up a staggering 243 metres whilst scoring two tries to send the Warriors Women to Wembley for the first time ever, where they will meet rivals St Helens in the final.

“There’s too much going on to be honest,” an ecstatic Banks told Wigan Today after the semi-final triumph at the LNER Community Stadium.

“I’m just excited to be able to get that opportunity to play at Wembley and I’m excited for the more senior players to get there like Vicky Molyneux, Holly Speakman, Rachel Thompson, Georgia Wilson - they’ve all worked so hard to build this team up from the foundation and it is just a privilege to help get them there.

“I think we just need to realise what an opportunity this is because I’ve never had this opportunity before. I know I’ll be really nervous, but I need to bear in mind that this is an opportunity and I just need to take it as it goes and play the game, not the occasion.”

It would be fair to say Banks’ game is a similar style to Jai Field in the Men’s team - pace to burn, fast feet, safe under the high ball, and always scanning for opportunities to attack the line.

“There’s obviously an expectation playing fullback for Wigan, with the likes of Jai Field and Bevan French having played there, so I kind of had an expectation,” Banks added.

“Georgia Wilson, who was amazing today, played at fullback before I came through. I thought Georgia was amazing today, I thought she was going to get Player of the Match, but I just took the game as it went on and did what Denis (Betts) told me to.”

Banks will get to witness their historic moment at Wembley alongside her mum, Genna Banks, who is head of youth development for the women and girls pathway with the Warriors.

“My mum is involved with the club with the P2P (Pathway to Performance) and as an academy coach,” Grace said. “I love having my mum around, I have someone to give a hug to at the end of the game, and it’s just nice having her around because we’re best friends.

“I’ve always been surrounded by rugby as my mum played, so when I was younger, I used to be around the changing rooms with Leigh Miners Women Open Age. I’m from Orrell, but I’d just always played at Leigh Miners.

“At primary school, Orrell St James’ primary, my teacher Mr Hayes, was like ‘Grace, why don’t you play rugby?’ so I started playing for the school team with the boys but once you go into high school you have to join a girls team, so I joined Leigh Miners and played all my junior rugby there, then I got the opportunity to play in Super League with Wigan, so I took that and I’m loving every minute of it.”