Danika Priim (born 11 September 1984)[1] is a retired rugby league player from Leeds. She has previously played for Stanningley and Bradford Bulls Women before playing for her home town team, Leeds Rhinos Women in the Women's Super League between 2018 and 2021. Priim played at prop forward. Priim played at international level for England from 2015 with her last international appearance being in 2018.
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| Born | 11 September 1984 Leeds, West Yorkshire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Prop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born in Leeds, Priim studied PE and qualified as a teacher at Leeds Beckett University.[2] She played rugby union for the university and did not return to rugby league until 2015 when she joined Stanningley. While at Stanningley, Priim was selected to play for England and made her debut in the 24–4 victory over France on 17 June 2015.[3][4]
In 2017 Priim moved to Bradford Bulls for the inaugural Women's Super League season and was a member of the squad that won both the league title and the Challenge Cup although she missed the Challenge Cup Final due to injury and was asked not to play in the Super League Grand Final to ensure she was fit to play for England in the 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup.[5] Selected by England for the 2017 World Cup Priim had to take several weeks unpaid leave from her teaching post as England reached the semi-finals.[6][7]
The following year Priim left Bradford to join the newly-formed Leeds Rhinos where she was appointed vice-captain.[3] In their first season Leeds made both the Grand Final and the Challenge Cup final but an anterior cruciate ligament injury meant Priim missed both big games.[5] An appearance in a major final finally came when she played in the Rhinos successful retention of the Challenge Cup against Castleford in July 2019.[8] The season ended with her second major final appearance as Leeds lifted the Super League trophy beating Castleford in the Grand Final.[9]
Priim played her last game for Leeds in the defeat to St Helens in the 2021 Grand Final and announced her retirement from playing the following week.[10]
Since 2020 Priim has appeared as a commentator and summarizer on both Sky TV and BBC TV and radio.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Danika Priim". Leeds Rhinos. Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
- ^ "Sporting expert alumni to discuss sport sponsorship with students". Leeds Beckett University. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ a b "A Player in her Priim". Her Rugby League. 13 April 2018. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ "France 4 - 24 England". European Rugby League. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Women's Super League Grand Final: Danika Priim hoping to make it third time lucky as Leeds Rhinos face Castleford Tigers". Yorkshire Post. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ "England Women's squad named for Rugby League World Cup". RFL. 9 October 2017. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ Bower, Aaron (15 November 2017). "England looking to blaze a trail at Women's Rugby League World Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ "Women's Challenge Cup final: Castleford Tigers 10-16 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. 27 July 2019.
- ^ Heppenstall, Ross (11 October 2019). "Women's Super League Grand Final: Fran Goldthorp inspires Leeds Rhinos to victory against Castleford Tigers". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ Smith, Peter (15 October 2021). "Leeds Rhinos women's team star Danika Priim explains why she's hanging up her boots". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
- ^ Heppenstall, Ross (15 October 2021). "Danika Priim calls time on Leeds Rhinos career". LeedsLive. Retrieved 16 October 2021.