THERE has been big interest from players keen to be part of Warrington Wolves' first ever women's team.

Trials for the open-age team take place at Victoria Park on Monday as they prepare to compete in the second tier next year.

READ > How you can get involved with Warrington Wolves' first ever women's team

As of last Friday, more than 40 players had registered an interest according to men's first-team star Ben Westwood, who will act as the side's assistant coach.

With The Halliwell Jones Stadium hosting the Women's Challenge Cup Final this year and bidding to stage the 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup Fina, Westwood says women's rugby league in Warrington has the potential to turn into "something quite big"

"We’re getting phonecalls every two minutes about it at the moment, so I can’t wait to get started," he said.

"We’ve had a lot of interest since the news went out. More than 40 players have been in touch so it’s looking good.

"To have age group teams below the open age team as well will really make it kick off over the next few years, so it will be really nice to be part of it.

"With the way women’s rugby league is going at the moment, in two or three years’ time it will turn into something quite big."

Westwood, who has just signed a new one-year deal with The Wire to take him into his 18th season with the club, will run the team alongside head coach Lee Westwood, team manager Angela Powers and coaches Andy Marsh, Estelle Graham and Ryan Cartledge.

He says he is looking forward to getting some valuable coaching experience before he hangs up his playing boots.

"Karl (Fitzpatrick, Wire chief executive) had a chat with me about it and I said I’d be very interested," he said.

"I met up with Lee Westwood and it went from there. It’s something I’m very excited about.

"I haven’t really done much coaching in my time so it will be nice to get a little bit of experience in that department and see where it goes."

Monday's open-age trials start at 7pm, with sessions for girls aged 12 to 16 continuing to take place every Monday between 6pm and 7pm.